BEARERS OF THE BURDEN - 5000year.space5000year.space/0datacenter/book/b15112019/enbooks/beng-011.pdfBearers of the Burden - 2 - over, they obtain relief from their burden. They can

BEARERS OF THE BURDEN

BEARERS OF THE BURDEN (Third Edition)

Bhikkhu Revata

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato

sammā sambuddhassa

BEARERS OF THE BURDEN

Published by Pa-Auk Meditation Centre, Singapore

Tel./Fax: 65 66119242 Email: [email protected]

This book has been published for Free Distribution Only and Not for Sale.

The material in this book may be reproduced for

Free Distribution without the author's permission.

It is recommended, however, that

unauthorised changes and other misrepresentation of the author's teachings

be avoided.

Text based on a Dhamma talk first given in South Korea in 2011.

First Edition: January 2012 Reprinted : May 2012

Second Edition: November 2012 Third Edition: November 2015

Dedicated to all the Saṅgha

who have sustained the

original teachings of the Buddha

and kept them unadulterated

over the centuries.

SABBADĀNAṂ DHAMMADĀNAṂ JINĀTI

The gift of truth excels all other gifts.

A G I F T - N O T F O R S A L E

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION i

The Burden 1

Materiality Aggregate 4

Feeling Aggregate 8

Perception Aggregate 9

Consciousness and Volitional Formations Aggregates 13

Master or Slave? 19

The Carrier of the Burden 20

The Carrier’s Goal and Path 21

Egocentric and Altruistic People 26

Evil Path, Unhappy Results 32

The Rudder of Life 41

Taking Up of the Burden 43

Seeking Delight Here and There 48

Craving 57

The Laying Down of the Burden 59

The Four Noble Truths 60

The Three Trainings 65

Liberation 71

Abbreviations 77

Index 79

Buddhavandanā 89

i

INTRODUCTION

No one takes on burdens if they can be avoided. One’s

burdens, perceived alternatively as responsibilities or du-ties, are borne either physically or mentally. They have varying degrees of complexity and weight. Some are diffi-

cult to bear while others are easy. Some are onerous while others are light. Some are intolerable while others

are tolerable. Whatever they be, everyone has to bear some burden or other in life.

No matter how complex, difficult, or wearisome the du-

ties may be, and no matter how heavy the burdens are, it is possible to be free of them in one’s life. There can be a

time when one is free from carrying these burdens.

Those who have duties and responsibilities in life are able

to let go of them and escape from them at the end of each workday as well as at certain times in the course of a

workday. However, there is a very heavy burden that we always carry. We shoulder this burden endlessly in the

round of rebirths without knowing any way of escape or relief from it.

It is, therefore, crucial for us to know:

The nature of the burden,

who is carrying the burden,

how to lighten the burden, and

how to put it down for complete freedom.

And that is precisely why this talk was given. Now I am

glad that it is being made available in print.

Bhikkhu Revata Pa-Auk Forest Monastery

(9th November 2011)

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BASED ON THE TALK

Bearers of the Burden

The Burden

The people who work for an organisation or a com-

pany are called personnel. In other words, those who carry the burden of an organisation or a company

are called personnel. In the Myanmar language, the term wun-htan means, literally, ‘burden-bearing’ or

‘burden-bearer’. It refers to people who are in the service of an organisation, a company, or a govern-

ment. We can also say, in the crudest sense of the word, that such people are ‘servants’. Commonly,

those who are employed by the government are of-ten referred to as ‘civil servants’.

We see all around us different types of organisation-al personnel such as company personnel, hospital

personnel, sales personnel, and educational per-sonnel. Company personnel carry the burden of the

company, while hospital personnel carry that of the hospital. Sales personnel carry the sales burdens of

their enterprises, while educational personnel carry

the burdens of their institutes. All personnel need to spend time performing their daily duties. In this way

they carry their burden of duties. When the day is


- 2 -

over, they obtain relief from their burden. They can put their burden down for some time. Such relief is

a temporary freedom that all personnel in the world obtain daily. We can say that they have gained tem-

porary freedom.

In less-developed countries, heavy loads are carried

by men, whereas in developed countries they are carried by motorised transport and cranes. In daily

life, we see porters in harbours, airports, and railway stations moving heavy loads from place to place.

When a ship is anchored in the harbour, workers are employed to move the cargo. It is the way they make

their living. A strong man might be able to carry a heavy load, but he can bear it on his shoulders for

only a short time, in fact for only a matter of

minutes. He will not be able to bear a heavy load for hours, let alone for days. Being a porter is tiring

work; and having lifted their burdens, porters hurry to put them down in specified areas. By putting

down their loads, they enjoy a sense of relief. This sense of relief comes from having let go of the bur-

den.

No matter how difficult and wearisome the duties

may be, and no matter how heavy the loads are, it is possible to be free of them. There can be times that

one is free from carrying all those responsibilities, or burdens.

All personnel who carry the burdens of different or-ganisations are able to let go of them and escape

from them at the end of the workday. They may also escape from them at certain times in the course of a

workday. However, there is a very heavy burden that

The Burden

- 3 -

people endlessly carry in the round of rebirths with-out knowing any way of escape or relief from it.

We all need to know what sort of burden that is and who is carrying it. This is the reason I want to give

you this profound talk today. It is to make all of you know:

What the burden is that you carry,

how to lighten your burden,

how to relieve yourselves of some of that bur-den, and

how to put it down for complete freedom

from it.

Let me quote the Buddha. The quote is taken from the Khandhavagga of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. The

name of the discourse is ‘The Burden’.1

The Buddha said:

Bhikkhus, I will teach you about the bur-den, the carrier of the burden, the taking up

of the burden, and the laying down of the burden. Listen to that ....

The Buddha asked:

And what, bhikkhus, is the burden?

Do you know what the burden is?

1 SN.III.1.3.1 Bhārasuttaṃ (SN 22.22 The Discourse on the

Burden).


- 4 -

It should be said: the five aggregates subject to clinging.

What five?

The Buddha then answered:

The materiality aggregate subject to cling-

ing, the feeling aggregate subject to clinging, the perception aggregate subject to clinging,

the volitional formations aggregate subject to clinging, and the consciousness aggregate

subject to clinging: This is called the bur-

den.

Now all of you know what the real burden is. How-ever, do you know why the five aggregates are called

‘the burden’? Is it appropriate to label them as a ‘burden’? Do you feel that calling these five aggre-

gates a ‘burden’ is extreme? When you come to

know how the five aggregates function, and how they torture us endlessly in the round of rebirths,

you will certainly come to agree with the words of the Buddha and His use of the word ‘burden’ to de-

note the five aggregates subject to clinging.

Materiality Aggregate

We say that we need food, shelter, clothes, and med-icine. But is it really our needs that we strive to fulfil,

or are we merely serving the needs of something else? What do you think? Whose needs are we ful-

filling? Whose needs are we serving? Ours, or those

of something else? What is your answer? Let me ask


- 5 -

you in a simpler way. Who needs food? Who needs shelter? Who needs clothes? Who needs medicine?

Let me explain in another way, so that you can un-derstand these questions more easily. It is all con-

nected to the core activities of our daily lives, noth-ing else.

According to the Buddha, there are ultimately no men, no women, no devas, no brahmās, no animals,

no hungry ghosts, and no hell beings. There are only the five aggregates subject to clinging. These five ag-

gregates have already been mentioned. Let me quote the Buddha again:

The materiality aggregate subject to cling-ing, the feeling aggregate subject to clinging,

the perception aggregate subject to clinging, the volitional formations aggregate subject

to clinging, and the consciousness aggregate subject to clinging: This is called the bur-

den.

We say that we need food, we need shelter, and we

need clothes and medicines. I ask you again: Is it really our needs that we strive to fulfil, or are we

merely serving the needs of something else?

Almost all of us keep busy our entire lives. What are

we always so busy about? We keep busy seeking food, shelter, clothes, and medicine. From morning

till night, we are busy striving for them, and think of them as our needs. Actually they are not our needs.

We are merely serving the needs of something else.


- 6 -

Let me ask you a few more questions. Please think carefully. If we do not have this body, do we need

food? If we do not have this body, do we need clothes? If we do not have this body, do we need

shelter? If we do not have this body, do we need medicine? If we do not have this very body, we need

none of them. All these needs are the needs of the body, and therefore not really our needs. As we have

this body, we have to fulfil its needs. So we can say that people all over the world are just slaves – slaves

of the body. Be aware of this! We are not fulfilling

our own needs; rather, we are fulfilling the needs of the body. We are slaves. In short, we are now talking

about the materiality aggregate (rūpakkhandhā).

The materiality aggregate is a group or a combina-

tion of materiality. This materiality aggregate makes heavy demands on us daily. It demands food to eat,

a place to live, clothes to wear, and medicine to maintain its health.

The materiality aggregate says, ‘Feed me delicious food. I yearn for it. I relish it very much.’

It says, ‘Give me beautiful clothes. I like wearing

them. How beautiful I shall be if I wear very beauti-ful garments!’

‘Build me a grand house or buy it for me. How hap-py I shall be if I can live there!’

The materiality aggregate also says, ‘Give me good medicine. I want to be healthy, active, and strong. I

want to live long. Let me apply a high quality anti-


- 7 -

ageing cream to my skin. I want to look young and healthy.’

People all over the world are busy striving to provide themselves and their families with these things, be-

lieving that these are their needs. Actually, they are only the needs of the materiality aggregate.

‘Blind is this world because of ignorance,’ said the Buddha.2 Almost all people in the world have good

eyes to see. However, with the naked eye they see just conventional truths, not ultimate truths. So they

can truly be said to be blind – blind to ultimate truths. Conventionally, there are men, women, de-

vas, and brahmās, but ultimately there is only ulti-mate mentality and materiality. In other words,

there are only the five aggregates.

According to the Abhidhamma, this whole world,

whether living things or non-living things, is made up of very tiny particles. These very small, sub-

atomic particles are arising and perishing very rapid-ly all the time. They cannot be seen with the naked

eye. They can only be seen with a concentrated mind.

2 Commentary to Dhp.XIII.7 ‘Pesakāradhītā Vatthu’ (Dhp.

174 ‘The Case of the Weaver Girl’).


- 8 -

That is why the Buddha said:

Bhikkhus, develop concentration. A bhik-

khu who is concentrated knows and sees things as they really are.3

What will they know and see when they develop

concentration? They will know and see suffering, the

origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering. That is,

they will know and see the Four Noble Truths. An-yone who is unable to see these Four Noble Truths

as they really are is blind. That is why the Buddha said, ‘Blind is this world because of ignorance.’ Ig-

norance veils the truth from us.

What did the Buddha mean by ‘ignorance’ (avijjā)?

The Buddha wasn’t talking about simply not know-ing this or that. He was talking about not knowing

the Truth. To presume what is wrong to be right, and what is right to be wrong, is ‘ignorance’. In oth-

er words, ignorance is not knowing the Four Noble Truths – not knowing suffering, the cause of suffer-

ing, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering. This is what the Bud-

dha meant by ‘ignorance’.

Feeling Aggregate

We sometimes say, ‘I am very happy,’ ‘I am very sad,’ or ‘I feel nothing.’ This is how we express our

3 SN.V.12.1.1 Samādhisuttaṃ (SN 56.1 The Discourse on

Concentration, also know as the Samādhi Sutta).

Feeling Aggregate

- 9 -

feelings. When we are happy, our feelings are pleas-ant. When we are sad, our feelings are unpleasant.

When we feel neither pleasant nor unpleasant, our feelings are neutral. There are these three kinds of

feeling – pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. It is not ‘we’ who feel them. It is the feeling aggregate (ve-

danakkhandhā) that feels them. The feeling aggregate has the function of experiencing the affective quality

or ‘taste’ of an object. There is no moment without feeling. When there is no pleasant feeling or un-

pleasant feeling, there is neutral feeling. We would

like to have pleasant feelings all the time. This often seems to be the principal goal of our lives. We

should know that it is the feeling aggregate that feels the ‘taste’ of an object, not ‘we’ who feel it.

Perception Aggregate

The perception aggregate (saññakkhandhā) also per-

forms its own task. It ‘perceives’ or ‘recognises’ an object, and ‘marks’ it so that the object can be rec-

ognised again. Whatever experiences it has, it marks them as black, white, good, bad, beautiful, ugly,

right, or wrong. Perception is a cause of ‘remember-ing’; it connects past experiences with present ones.

We remember how to use different objects, like how

to eat with a fork, knife, or spoon. We remember how to turn on the water tap, how to write, or how

to find our way when we walk out onto the street. We take it for granted that ‘we’ remember all these

things. We should know that it is perception which remembers. If good things are remembered, we are

happy; we have pleasant feelings. If bad things are


- 10 -

remembered, we are unhappy; we have unpleasant feelings. This is the function of two aggregates. The

perception aggregate and the feeling aggregate are working in conjunction.

Because of them, we utter cries such as, ‘He abused me,’ ‘He mistreated me,’ ‘He got the better of me,’

or ‘He stole my belongings.’ We feel very sad, very angry, or very unhappy. Sometimes we shed bitter

tears. Sometimes we even think of seeking revenge. Perception is the cause of this suffering. We have

good memories and bad memories. Which do we have more of, the bad ones or the good ones? Good

memories are good perceptions and bad memories are bad perceptions. There are certainly many more

bad perceptions in our lives. They torture us end-

lessly. The more bad memories we have, the more we suffer. To have good memories, we should

choose to live as simple a life as we can.

The Buddha said, ‘Pāpasmiṃ ramatī mano.’4 What

does that mean? The meaning is this: When we are not doing wholesome deeds, the mind will incline

towards unhealthy thinking. This explains why we have a lot of bad memories. Furthermore, because

of this, unwholesome mental impressions are left in our mind.

I shall tell you of an incident to illustrate how per-ception works.

Once when I was having lunch in my secluded place

at Pa-Auk Forest Meditation Centre, a layman visit-

4 Dhp.IX.1 Pāpavagga (Dhp. 116 Chapter on Evil).


- 11 -

ed me. On that day I used a certain type of glass to drink water. The layman kept looking intently at the

glass. I didn’t know that he was looking intently at the glass until he told me so. When I asked him why

he was looking at it, he told me, ‘Bhante, seeing that glass, I remembered what I had done with a similar

type of glass in the past. I had taken alcohol with it.’ Here you can see how perception connected a past

experience with the present one. When he saw a glass similar to the one he had used before, he re-

membered what he had done with it. The layman

suffered again for a past unwholesome (akusala) deed by remembering it.

Remembering past unwholesome deeds while we do

wholesome (kusala) deeds – for example, while medi-

tating – can become a hindrance in our practice. The more we remember them, the more we suffer.

That is why the Buddha said, ‘Perception is duk-kha.’5 Perception is the cause of remembering. If we

think that ‘we’ remember, we will suffer for it. How-ever, if we do not participate in that perception or

memory, and instead understand perception as the cause of remembering, then we will feel a sense of

release.

As I have just said, all of us have both good and bad

memories. However, bad memories outnumber the good ones. Because of bad memories, many of us

often cannot sleep well at night. Instead, we silently take mental revenge on others. We quarrel and ar-

gue in our minds, sometimes angrily. A great deal of

5 SN.III.1.2.2 Dukkhasuttaṃ (SN 22.13 The Discourse on

Suffering).


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our precious time and energy is wasted on remem-bering again and again how someone did something

bad to us. Sometimes we cannot even carry out our daily responsibilities. It is likely that the other person

has completely forgotten the deed. This is why the Buddha said, ‘Perception is dukkha.’ The more bad

perceptions we have, the more we suffer. This is the burden – the real burden.

Let me say it another way. If we want to have good perceptions, and hence good memories, we need to

improve our way of life. We need to choose to live a simple and healthy lifestyle. We now live in a com-

plex world. This world is, in fact, very complicated and getting even more so. If we want to lead a wor-

thy life, we need a change in our lifestyle. If we want

to have a better life, we need to seek improvements in our lifestyle. If we want to be happy, we need to

live as simple and as wholesome a life as we can.

The more developed a country is, the more oppres-

sive, complex, and complicated life becomes in that country. What are the implications of living in a de-

veloped country? Why is a country considered de-veloped? Among other reasons, a country is consid-

ered developed when different sorts of sensuality can be easily obtained in abundance. In a developed

country, many complicated things happen, as there are very many kinds of sensuality to grasp at and

cling to. If we do not want an abundance of bad memories, we should choose to live in simpler places

– in the countryside for lay people, and in the forest for monks. There are no complications in the forest

for monks. If we are there alone, we can live a really simple life. Now, for example, I am with many of my


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disciples. I have to deal with many issues. What do you think? Which is better – to live alone or with

many others? Living alone is better. Think of it like this: If we wear only one bracelet, it will make no

sound. If we wear two or more bracelets, they will make the sound ‘chwing chwing’. That is noise. That

is disturbance. We should appreciate the benefits of living a simple life. We should choose a life of soli-

tude.

From another perspective, those who see ultimate

mentality by way of the cognitive process can see the perception that arises in each mind moment. These

perceptions are arising and perishing very, very rap-idly. The perception aggregate is arising and perish-

ing all the time. This is impermanence. If we can see

the arising and perishing of the perception aggregate in each mind moment, we can feel a sense of release

from the suffering caused by the perception aggre-gate.

Consciousness And

Volitional Formations Aggregates

Next we shall talk about the consciousness aggregate

and the volitional formations aggregate. The con-sciousness aggregate (viññāṇakkhandhā) cognizes the

object. It is the leader in knowing the object.

The volitional formations aggregate (saṅkhārakkhan-

dhā) causes us to perform good and bad deeds. There is a Pāḷi word, cetanā, which is often translated

as ‘volition’ or ‘intention’. When we are about to do something, whether moral or immoral, it is evident


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that there is cetanā. Cetanā is exceedingly energetic at that time. We should remember that when we

perform wholesome or unwholesome deeds, it is ac-tually wholesome or unwholesome volition or inten-

tion that motivates the deed. It is this volition which will produce its appropriate result later on. Thus,

kusala kamma (wholesome kamma) and akusala kam-

ma (unwholesome kamma) are actually kusala ce-

tanā and akusala cetanā. Eating, listening, actively smelling and tasting, willingly touching tangible sen-

sual objects, thinking both good and bad thoughts,

walking, running, shouting, quarrelling, killing, stealing, committing sexual misconduct, telling lies,

consuming drugs and alcohol, accusing, complain-ing, finger-pointing, back-biting, blaming, and help-

ing – all such things are the acts of the volitional formations aggregate. They are all motivated by

wholesome or unwholesome volition or intention.

As an example of how cetanā determines a deed, let

us look at an act of providing help to others. One person provides help to another with a wish to sup-

port them. That is altruistic. Another person also provides help, but with a wish to gain favour or

praise. That is egocentric. Both are acts of providing help, yet one arises from an altruistic cetanā, where-

as the other springs from a selfish cetanā. Now you can better comprehend the function of the volitional

formations aggregate. One type of help provided is

wholesome, whereas the other is unwholesome, de-pending on the cetanā. It is thus the volitional for-

mations aggregate which performs wholesome and unwholesome deeds in life, not ‘we’ who do so.

Consciousness and Volitional Formations Aggregates

- 15 -

You now understand better how each of the five ag-gregates performs its individual function.

The materiality aggregate (rūpakkhandhā) says, ‘Feed me well. Give me what I like to eat. If not, I shall

become ill or weak. Or I shall even die!’ So we have to try to fulfil its demands.

Because we possess a materiality aggregate, we feel hot or cold. When it is hot, we have to make the ma-

teriality aggregate cool. When it is cold, we have to make it warm. When it is hungry, we have to give it

food. When it is thirsty, we have to give it something to drink. How heavy are the duties we carry because

of this materiality aggregate! If we don’t serve its needs, it says, ‘I shall become ill or weak. Or I shall

even die!’ Afraid of its threats, we then strive to please it.

When we feed the materiality aggregate with deli-cious food, pleasant feelings arise. Who feels them?

The feeling aggregate feels them. That is its func-tion. It is doing its job. ‘We’ are not feeling them. It

is because of the identity view (sakkāya-diṭṭhi) within us that we think ‘we’ feel it.

What is this sakkāya diṭṭhi? The Buddha described many ways in which we may hold the wrong view of

a self in regard to the five aggregates. For example, we may imagine that the self is one of the aggre-

gates, or that the self possesses one of the aggre-gates, or that the aggregates are in the self, or that


- 16 -

the self is in one of the aggregates.6 This basic mis-understanding is sakkāya diṭṭhi, self-identity view. It

lies at the heart of our suffering. Sakkāya-diṭṭhi is the wrong view that causes us to regard the five ag-

gregates as ‘mine’, ‘I’, and ‘my self’. Not only does it make us cling to the five aggregates, but it also caus-

es us to grasp onto greed, anger, delusion, pride, jealousy, stinginess, and so forth, by leading us to

regard all these defilements as ‘mine’, ‘I’, and ‘my self’. In reality, the aggregates are no more than just

the aggregates. The five aggregates are not ‘mine’ or

‘I’ or ‘my self’. It is only sakkāya-diṭṭhi that makes us think and feel that way.

Because of identity view, we wrongly understand

and say, ‘I feel pleasant feelings.’ Because of identity

view, the materiality aggregate and ‘I’ become in-separable. Thus, when the materiality aggregate de-

sires something, we take it to be ‘our’ desire.

The same thing happens with the feeling aggregate,

the perception aggregate, and so on. Due to this wrong view, due to seeing things as ‘I’, ‘me’, and

‘mine’, we have served, are serving, and will go on serving the needs of the five aggregates endlessly in

the round of rebirths.

Then the feeling aggregate (vedanakkhandhā) says,

‘Give me pleasurable sensations again, otherwise I shall become disappointed, miserable, or regretful,

or I shall even cause death!’ Thus we hanker after

6 SN.III.1.9.3 Yamakasuttaṃ (SN 22.85 The Discourse Con-

cerning Yamaka).


- 17 -

pleasurable sensations to serve the needs of the feel-ing aggregate while thinking that they are our own

needs.

From the moment of birth until the moment of

death, people all over the world are very busy pursu-ing sensuality. People’s goals are almost all the

same. They want to feel pleasant feelings and to en-joy sensual pleasures. We live our lives in obedience

to the demands of the feeling aggregate. When we feel sorry, worried, guilty, fearful, shameful, proud,

jealous, or stingy, the feelings that arise are unpleas-ant ones. We don’t want them. Nevertheless, we

cannot complain. As we have the roots of greed, ha-tred, and delusion in us, unpleasant feelings, howev-

er undesirable, will surely occur one after another in

our daily lives.

In pursuit of sensual pleasures, people have no con-tentment. They don’t know the value of content-

ment. The Buddha said, ‘Santuṭṭhi paramaṃ dhanaṃ.’7

What is the meaning here? ‘Contentment is the greatest wealth.’ Is that true? The one who knows

the value of contentment and practises it has peace of mind. The more we want, the more we suffer; the

less we want, the less we suffer. If there is no want-ing, there will be no suffering. We should all know

the value of this truth pointed out by the Buddha. Because of not knowing this, undesirable feelings

and actions usually result. One is always wanting something. People are always clamouring, ‘I need

this.’ ‘I want that.’ ‘I don’t like their decisions.’

7 Dhp.XV.6 Sukhavagga (Dhp. 204 Chapter on Happiness).


- 18 -

‘They are not reasonable.’ ‘Why did they do this?’ ‘Don’t they know they should not do that?’ ‘Don’t

come here, I don’t want to see you.’ ‘How bad the government policy is!’ ‘We want the right to perform

abortions!’ ‘We need more freedom.’ ‘How bad the education system is!’ ‘Change immediately!’ ‘We

want to be paid more.’ ‘You are all so lazy!’ We think such complaints are the emotional feelings of

people, but it is actually just the feeling aggregate performing its task. However, we erroneously be-

lieve that we ourselves are feeling those feelings. We

are actually given a direct command by the feeling aggregate to serve it and give it what it wants to feel.

We make ourselves ready. But we are really under the command of the feeling aggregate. How difficult

it is to know the truth! Not knowing the truth, we turn ourselves into slaves while thinking that we are

masters. How heavy is the burden we carry because of the feeling aggregate! If we don’t serve its needs,

it says, ‘I shall become unhappy or depressed, or I shall even cause death!’ Afraid of it, we are forced to

try to please it.

Then the consciousness aggregate (viññāṇakkhandhā)

says, ‘I know pleasant tastes and pleasurable sensa-tions. Give me more. Find them for me. If not, I

shall make myself unhappy. Eventually I shall even cause death!’ Due to wrong views, we do its bidding

yet think that we are fulfilling our own needs.

The perception aggregate (saññakkhandhā) also says,

‘I remember the taste and the pleasant feeling expe-rienced by the materiality aggregate and the feeling

aggregate. They were very good. I am thinking about them. I am remembering them.’ This is the


- 19 -

way perception impels the materiality aggregate and the feeling aggregate to experience more of the tastes

and the feelings experienced in the past.

Master or Slave?

Obeying the aggregates’ demands, we go out to ac-quire what they want, again and again. To fulfil the

needs of the five aggregates, we have done and con-tinue to do many things, both good and bad. These

are acts of the volitional formations aggregate. When we get what it wants, we say, ‘I am the master of my

life.’ In truth, we are just fulfilling the needs of the five aggregates. We are just slaves – slaves of the five

aggregates.

If we don’t yet know this profound truth, there is no

way of telling when we will become free from being their slaves. When we know how we are living and

what we are living for – that we are slaves to the five

aggregates – we will feel ashamed of our lives. Some of us may even feel shocked, upset, or distressed.

We will realise that it is impossible to be regarded as the masters of our lives when we are really serving

the needs of the five aggregates in the same old fa-miliar way. We are living as slaves all the time.

We see now how the five aggregates work and how they command all of us all the time. Together they

are performing their functions. We are always obey-ing them. Because of identity view, the five aggre-

gates and the ‘I’ cannot be separated. Wrongly thinking that their demands are our needs, we in fact

serve the needs of the five aggregates.


- 20 -

The five aggregates torture us. They are a heavy, oppressive burden. We carry the burden of our ag-

gregates (khandhā) not for just a short time – not for just a minute, an hour, a day, a year, one life, or

even just one aeon! Not so! We have been carrying this heavy, oppressive burden since the beginning of

saṃsāra, the round of rebirths, which is infinite and has no known beginning. There is also no way of

knowing when it will end if we continue spending our lives doing the same old things. For that reason

the five aggregates are truly a heavy burden. It is in-

deed a very heavy burden we are carrying, and will continue to carry unless we can lay it down.

You know now what the burden is.

The Carrier of the Burden

The Buddha then asked:

Who is the carrier of the burden?

It should be said: the person, this venerable one of such a name and clan. This is called

the carrier of the burden.

Who are the carriers of the burden?

‘We’ are the carriers of the burden. ‘You’ are the

carrier of the burden. Mr. John is the carrier of the burden. Miss Mary is the carrier of the burden.

As I said earlier, we see company personnel, sales personnel, and hospital personnel all around us.

The Carrier of the Burden

- 21 -

Even while they are working for their organisations, they have some time to lay down their burdens in

the course of a workday. They have a chance to be relieved of their burdens. No matter how hard and

tiring the duties they perform, and no matter how heavy the loads they carry, it is possible to be free of

them, even if only temporarily. They have some time to be free from carrying their responsibilities, or

burdens.

However, the personnel who are serving the needs of

the ‘organisation’ called the five aggregates have no chance to lay down their burdens, not even for a

minute. This is not only so in the present life, but it has always been so, and will always be so throughout

innumerable lives in saṃsāra, the round of rebirths.

The Carrier’s Goal and Path

How do we carry our burden?

That depends on our goal in life. There is a goal in life and a path leading to that goal. Let us examine

who sets the goal and who lays the path. We think it is we ourselves. Actually, it isn’t. The five aggregates

set the goal and lay down the path. Which aggre-

gates set the goal, and which lay down the path?

1. The materiality aggregate sets its goal, say-ing, ‘I like delicious food. I need fine and

beautiful clothes. Let me live in good ac-

commodation. Take care of me. I want to be well and healthy.’


- 22 -

2. The feeling aggregate also sets its goal, saying, ‘I like to feel pleasant feelings

through the six sense-doors. Serve them to me.’

3. The perception aggregate also sets its goal,

saying, ‘I remember that. I want it again.’ ‘I miss them very much. Let me see them

again.’ ‘They insulted me. They abused me. They mistreated me. They stole my

belongings. I cannot forget. I cannot for-give. One day I shall seek revenge.’ By re-

membering what the materiality and the feeling aggregate have experienced, the

perception aggregate sets its goal.

4. The consciousness aggregate also sets its

goal by knowing such things as pleasant tastes and pleasurable sensations. It says,

‘Give me more. Find them for me. If not, I shall make myself unhappy. Eventually I

shall even cause death!’

5. It is only the volitional formations aggre-gate that lays down the path to the goal.

With greed or non-greed, anger or non-anger, delusion or non-delusion, pride or

humility, jealousy or magnanimity, stingi-ness or generosity, doubt or confidence,

the path is laid down.

The five aggregates are performing their functions together. We act according to what the five aggre-

gates say. We are obedient personnel. We never, ev-er dare to disobey.


- 23 -

However, not everyone falls into the category of obedient personnel. While the five aggregates in

themselves are the same for all beings, there is an im-portant difference between the five aggregates of an

unenlightened being and the five aggregates of an enlightened being. Because unenlightened beings

possess the defilements, their aggregates function as the five clinging aggregates. The aggregates then be-

come the burden taken up and carried by unenlight-ened beings. Arahants by contrast have eradicated

all defilements, so for enlightened beings the five ag-

gregates are just the five aggregates and are no long-er characterised by clinging. Free from defilement,

craving, and attachment, Arahants cling neither to their own five aggregates nor to any aggegrates out-

side themselves.

Therefore, the materiality, feeling, perception, and

consciousness aggregates of Arahants no longer set any goal, and consequently their volitional formation

aggregate does not lay any path either. But in the case of beings still tainted by defilement, the clinging

aggregates of materiality, feeling, perception, and consciousness set their respective goals only because

of the presence and the strong influence of the de-filements; similarly, their volitional formation aggre-

gate lays the path, solely because of the strong influ-ence of the defilements. What do you think? Which

is more important in life, the path or the goal?

It is the path. However, almost none of us think very

much about the path. We think only about the goal. We are less concerned with, and are often heedless

about, whether we are treading the right path or the


- 24 -

wrong path. Our concern is overwhelmingly about reaching our goal.

In truth, we need to tread the right path to get to the right goal. If we choose to tread the wrong path, we

can expect to find ourselves full of guilt and re-morse, perhaps for the rest of our lives. If we believe

that money, possessions, and physical comfort are more important than spiritual values in life, we will

suffer. We will devalue our lives for the sake of worldly gains such as acceptance, praise, fame, and

wealth. We will become materialists.

Fame and wealth are highly regarded by most. They

are sought after by people from all walks of life. And often people seek these things regardless of whether

or not they take the right path to get them.

If we do something in anger, we will have chosen

anger as the path to the goal. If we act with greed, jealousy, stinginess, or conceit, we will have chosen

those defilements to be the path leading to our goal. These are inappropriate paths. However, if we act

with generosity (alobha), loving-kindness (adosa), or wisdom (amoha), we walk on the right path, a suita-

ble path.

To illustrate this, let us look at a selfish person who

cared a lot about his goal but not about the path. He lived in a village not far from the Veḷuvana monas-

tery in Rājagaha. His name was Cunda.8 He was a pig-breeder and butcher. He made a living breeding

8 Commentary to Dhp.I.10 ‘Cundasūkarika Vatthu’ (Dhp. 15

‘The Case of Cunda the Pork Butcher’).


- 25 -

and killing pigs. He bought piglets from the villagers in exchange for rice, but without dealing fairly. He

would do this when the villagers were in great need and had no other choice but to agree to his terms.

He made it appear as if he was a compassionate per-son, helping them in times of need. The villagers

were even expected to thank him. People may de-scribe him as a smart dealer, but in fact he was

crafty and unjust. The way he chose to make his liv-ing was improper. Greed was his chosen path. He

cheated the villagers.

Furthermore, he fed the piglets well in his backyard.

But it was not out of kindness that he did so. He was motivated only by a desire for greater profits. He

wanted bigger pigs. When they were fully grown, he

slaughtered them to sell the meat. In this way he was actually making his burden heavier and heavier.

Much worse, you cannot imagine his cruelty to the

pigs. The way he slaughtered them was extremely

cruel, utterly heartless. To kill a pig, he would fasten it firmly to a post and pound the whole body with a

square club to make the flesh swell so it looked more plump and tender. The pig would squeal and grunt

in agony and excruciating pain. Cunda was indeed very, very brutal.

There are three things that are part and parcel of our lives. They are:

1. Gratification: This is the state of satisfaction

when we meet with desirable outcomes.


- 26 -

2. Fault and danger: This is the state of dissatis-faction when we meet with undesirable out-

comes.

3. Escape: This is the escape from that fault and danger.

Egocentric and Altruistic People

There are also two types of individuals:

1. The egocentric person: This person has selfish views.

2. The altruistic person: This person has unself-

ish views.

People who are egocentric are mainly interested in

their personal desires and gains. They care very lit-tle, or not at all, about others. Such people are con-

sidered self-centred or egocentric. On the other hand, people who are altruistic have greater concern

for the well-being of others. They are not considered to be self-seeking people. They are altruistic people.

The way selfish people set out to seek gratification, to face fault and danger, and to find the escape from

that fault and danger are different from the way un-selfish people do those things. The ways in which

these two types of people overcome the problems in life are also different from each other.

I shall now tell you a story of how two altruistic people set out to seek gratification, to face fault and

danger, and to find the escape from it.


- 27 -

Once long ago, a young man by the name of Pippali Kassapa married Bhaddā Kāpilānī to please his

mother.9 The young wealthy couple lived happily and in comfort for many years. As long as Pippali’s

parents lived, the young couple did not have to look after the family estate. However, when his parents

died, they had to take charge of the large family es-tate and farms.

One day, when Pippali Kassapa was inspecting one of the farms, he saw, as if with new eyes, what he

had seen so often before. In the past, as the saying goes, ‘he had eyes but could not see’. He now no-

ticed that when his workers were ploughing the fields, many birds gathered to eagerly pick the

worms from the furrows. This sight, so common to

farmers, really startled him. It struck him forcefully that what brought him his wealth, the produce of his

fields, was bound up with the suffering and death of many living beings. His livelihood was being secured

with the death of so many worms and other little creatures living in the soil. Thinking about this, he

asked one of his labourers, ‘Who will have to bear the consequences of such actions?’ ‘You yourself,

sir,’ was the answer.

Shaken by that insight into kammic retribution, he

reflected, ‘If I have to carry with me the burden for all that killing, what use is all this wealth to me? It

will be better if I give it all to Bhaddā and go forth into the ascetic life.’

9 Commentary to SN.II.5.11 Cīvarasuttaṃ (SN 16.11 The

Discourse on the Robe).


- 28 -

Meanwhile, back at home, at about the same time, his wife had a similar experience. She, too, saw

afresh and with deeper understanding what she had very often seen before. Sesame seeds from their

fields had been spread out in the open to dry in the sun. Crows and other birds were eating the insects

that had been attracted by the seeds. When Bhaddā asked her servants who would have to account mor-

ally for the violent death of so many creatures, she was told that the kammic responsibility was hers.

Then she thought, ‘If I have to carry with me the

burden of causing such death, I won’t be able to lift my head above the ocean of rebirths even in a thou-

sand lives. As soon as Pippali returns, I shall hand over everything to him and leave to take up the as-

cetic life.’

When they met, they spoke their minds, and found

themselves of one accord. So they had pale-yellow cloth and clay bowls bought for them from the ba-

zaar, then shaved each other’s heads, and set out to become wandering ascetics. They made the declara-

tion, ‘To those who are Arahants in the world, we dedicate our going forth!’

Slinging their alms bowls over their shoulders, they left the estate manor unnoticed by their domestic

servants. However, when they reached the village that belonged to the estate, the labourers and their

families saw them. On hearing of the couple’s re-nunciation, the people fell at the feet of the two as-

cetics and lamented, crying and exclaiming, ‘O dear and noble ones! Why do you want to make us help-

less orphans?’


- 29 -

‘It is because we have seen existence in the sensual world (kāmaloka), in the fine material brahmā world

(rūpaloka), and in the formless brahmā world (arūpaloka) to be like a house on fire that we go forth

into the homeless life,’ they said. To those who were serfs, Pippali Kassapa granted their freedom. He

and Bhaddā then continued on their journey, leaving the villagers behind, still weeping and lamenting.

We have now seen the wise and altruistic way in which these two unselfish people set out to seek

gratification, to face fault and danger, and to find the escape from that fault and danger. Let us now go

back to reflect on how the selfish Cunda set out to seek gratification, to face fault and danger, and to

find the escape from it.

Cunda had a very nasty, greedy, and selfish disposi-

tion. He cared only about himself and his own de-sires and gains. The way he tried to escape from the

fault and danger he encountered was terrible. He

wanted to escape from the disturbing squeals of the pigs as they suffered in the agony of dying. When he

slaughtered a pig, he would force open the pig’s jaws and insert a piece of wood into its mouth. He then

poured boiling water down the pig’s throat. The hot water would stream down through the animal’s in-

nards, loosening the excrement. The foul excrement would eventually pass out through the anus, causing

excruciating pain to the dying pig throughout the cruel process. So long as there was even a little ex-

crement left in the pig’s belly, the water would come out stained and turbid. As soon as the pig’s belly

was clean, the water would come out clear. Cunda


- 30 -

would thus continue pouring hot water until the wa-ter came out clear.

He would also pour hot water onto the pig’s back to make the pig’s skin peel off. Finally, he would cut

off the pig’s head with a long, sharp knife and butcher the carcass for sale as well as for his own

consumption.

He made a living that way for fifty-five years. In all

that time he did not perform a single meritorious deed. Although the Buddha was often in residence

at a nearby monastery, not once did Cunda ever pay Him honour. He never even offered so much as a

handful of flowers or a spoonful of rice.

Now you know how the egocentric and self-serving

Cunda sought escape from the fault and danger that he encountered in his livelihood. In order to reach

the goal laid down by the five aggregates, he chose to walk a selfish path. The self-centered Cunda

sought gratification and faced the ensuing fault and danger with utter selfishness. He used his own cruel

means to try to escape from the fault and danger he encountered.

One day, Cunda was stricken by illness, and while he was still alive, the fire of the Great Hell arose be-

fore him. In great pain, he began to squeal and grunt like a pig and to crawl about on his hands and knees,

first to the front of the house and then to the back. The men of his household overpowered and gagged

him. But since it is impossible for anyone to prevent

a man’s past deeds from bearing fruit, he kept crawl-ing back and forth, grunting and squealing continu-


- 31 -

ally for seven whole days. He was agonising in the manner of the pigs he had been slaughtering. Thus,

even before he died, he was suffering as if he was in hell. On the seventh day, Cunda died and was re-

born in the Great Hell. The path he had chosen was an improper and evil one that steered him straight

into the Great Hell.

If the path to the goal is wrong, the goal cannot be

reached properly. Cunda’s goal was to gain wealth and to eat sumptuous food, including pork. Howev-

er, the path he chose to reach his goal – namely, kill-ing pigs every day in a cruel and merciless manner –

caused him to lose everything. The path chosen by his volitional formations aggregate was governed by

greed and fuelled by cruelty. That led him straight

to the Great Hell. In this way, Cunda, the bearer of five aggregates, had made his subsequent burden

heavier.

With the story of Pippali Kassapa and Bhaddā

Kāpilānī on the one hand and the story of Cunda on the other, I believe I have clearly illustrated the di-

vergent ways in which selfish and unselfish people set out to seek gratification, to face fault and danger,

and to find escape. The ways in which they strive to overcome their problems in life are different. The

selfish care only about themselves rather than about other people, whereas the unselfish give due consid-

eration to other people’s needs and wishes as well.

It is all right for one to choose wealth as a goal and

then successfully fulfil the desire to reach that goal through honesty, non-cruelty, and other virtues, es-

pecially when one also performs acts of charity, gen-


- 32 -

erosity, and loving-kindness and maintains the five precepts well. This is a good path to walk. It brings

one happily to the goal. However, having chosen the goal of wealth or even of mere survival, if one then

chooses a most improper path to get there, one will lose everything. One may even end up in a place of

great suffering as Cunda did.

Which way should you choose?

Evil Path, Unhappy Results

Let me give you more stories about other carriers of

the burden.

Once, there was a loud, anguished cry of four ghosts

near a moat outside the city of Rājagaha.10 They wailed loudly, ‘We earned money both righteously

and unrighteously when we were alive. All the wealth that we accumulated is now being consumed

by others. As for us, we are now suffering as hungry ghosts for our unrighteous livelihood.’ Here, we all

need to know why they had been reborn in the ghost

realm.

At the time of the Buddha, there were four women in Rājagaha who traded in rice, oil, butter, honey,

and other groceries. They employed unfair means,

using false weights and measures. When they died,

10 PvA.IV.14 Mahāvaggo, ‘Bhogasaṃharaṇa Peta Vatthu

Vaṇṇanā’ (‘Description of the Case of the Bhogasaṃharaṇa

Ghost’).


- 33 -

they were reborn as hungry ghosts near a moat out-side Rājagaha. To serve the needs of the five aggre-

gates, they had chosen a wrong path, and that wrong path steered them into the ghost realm. Obeying the

instructions of the five aggregates, they had enslaved themselves. They suffered for having been nothing

but slaves to the five aggregates.

After they had passed away, their husbands found

new wives. Maybe some of you face a similar situa-tion. The husbands were now happily consuming

what their former wives had earned and accumulat-ed. Seeing this, the four of them felt deep remorse

over their past misdeeds. Now they were mourning and weeping loudly over their present fate.

When they were alive, they had very much wanted to enjoy great wealth and material comfort. But they

went about achieving their goal wrongly. They trad-ed using false weights and measures. All this hap-

pened according to the demands of the five aggre-

gates. Having chosen their path, the four women accumulated much by improper means. Now they

had to carry the heavier burdens of the five aggre-gates of hungry ghosts.

We do not want to be reborn as animals, hell beings,

or hungry ghosts. Even though we do not wish for

these existences, we have to accept the consequences of our enslavement to the five aggregates. We must

take full responsibility for the consequences of the path we have decided to tread.

We can now all see the influences and the effects that the five aggregates have on us. These five aggre-


- 34 -

gates are really a burden. They are our masters. We are their slaves. Because of identity view, we are al-

ways under their control. We have been continually deluded by this identity view throughout the round

of rebirths up until the present. Every one of us has been caught in this web of delusion.

We will not be completely free from these five ag-gregates as long as we do not rid ourselves of this

identity view. Even though we cannot totally elimi-nate this identity view until we become a Noble per-

son (ariyā), through right knowledge we can gradual-ly eliminate it. From right knowledge springs right

thinking. From right thinking springs right action. With right knowledge, we can row well and steer our

boat of life into a delightful harbour. We will be

people of high moral standards both in this life and in lives to come. One day we shall reach the other

shore, that is, Nibbāna.

We must be careful of the way we carry our burden.

Even though we are extremely unlikely to become totally free from bearing our burden, we will at least

be able to mould a better way of life for now and for the future if we know how to carry the load in a skil-

ful manner. We will be able to pick up and carry new but lighter burdens.

On the other hand, if we don’t know how to carry our burden in a skilful manner, we will be unable to

mould a better way of life for now and for the future. Even worse, we will be picking up new and heavier

burdens.


- 35 -

Next, let me tell you about the bhikkhu, bhikkhunī, probationary nun (sikkhamānā), novice monk, and

novice nun who lived in Buddha Kassapa’s time and who unwisely chose the worldly goals of fame, gain,

and success. 11

Once, as Venerable Mahā Moggallāna was coming

down from Mount Vulture Peak (the Gijjhakūṭa Hill) with Venerable Lakkhaṇa, he smiled in a cer-

tain place. The Venerable Lakkhaṇa asked, ‘Venera-ble Sir, why do you smile?’

Venerable Mahā Moggallāna replied, ‘This is not the time for that question. Ask me that question when

we are in the presence of the Blessed One.’

When they got back to the monastery in Rājagaha,

Venerable Lakkhaṇa again asked him the same ques-tion in the presence of the Buddha. Venerable Mahā

Moggallāna said:

When I was coming down from Mount Vul-

ture Peak, I saw a bhikkhu going through the air. His robe was in flames, his bowl was

in flames, his waistband was in flames, and his body was burning with flames too. All

the while he was uttering cries of pain.

He had seen a ghost in the form of a bhikkhu. See-

ing this being, he smiled.

11 SN.II.8.2.8-11 Pāpabhikkhunīsuttaṃ, Pāpasikkhamnasut-

taṃ, Pāpasāmaṇerasuttaṃ, Pāpasāmaṇerīsuttaṃ (SN 19.18-21

The Discourses on the Evil Bhikkhunī, the Evil Probationary

Nun, the Evil Novice Monk, and the Evil Novice Nun).


- 36 -

The Buddha then said:

In the past, I, too, saw that bhikkhu, but I

didn’t speak about it. If I had spoken about it, others would not have believed me. If

they had not believed me, that would have led to their detriment and suffering for a

long time.

So, out of compassion for His disciples and devo-

tees, the Buddha had kept silent about that sight. Here I would like all of you to think deeply about

what to say, what not to say, when to speak, when not to speak, where to speak, and where not to

speak, even when we actually know or see that something is true.

According to the Buddha, even though things may be true both for oneself and for others, if it is not yet

the right time nor the right place, we should not speak. We should not speak if speaking will not be

beneficial to others, or if it might even be detri-mental.12

At other times, Venerable Mahā Moggallāna also saw the same type of ghosts in the form of a bhik-

khunī, a probationary nun, a novice monk, and a novice nun. But he talked about them only in the

presence of the Buddha.

As the Buddha had a witness in Venerable Mahā

Moggallāna, He then explained about those ghosts.

12 MN.II.1.8 Abhayarājakumārasuttaṃ (MN 58 The Discourse

Concerning Prince Abhaya).


- 37 -

They had been evil ones in Buddha Kassapa’s Dis-pensation. They were a bhikkhu, a bhikkhunī, a

probationary nun, a novice monk, and a novice nun who had not led lives of virtue in Buddha Kassapa’s

time. They had set out to seek gain, honour, and fame, obeying the demands of the five aggregates.

They were slaves of the aggregates. They had set themselves the goal of achieving mundane success in

life. They had forfeited their holy lives for the sake of worldly gain. Through immoral deeds and poor

conduct, they enjoyed gifts given in faith by lay peo-

ple and intended for the virtuous. They derived en-joyment from the food received on alms-round given

in faith by householders and intended for the virtu-ous. Due to such misdeeds, they were reborn in hell

and suffered for many hundreds of thousands of years. Then, when their time in hell was finally over,

as a residual effect of that same kamma, they were reborn in the realm of hungry ghosts.

Here let me ask you a few more questions. What is the goal of lay people? Success or liberation? Surely,

it is success, not liberation. And what should the goal of monks be? It should be liberation, not suc-

cess. If monks choose a goal of gain, honour, and fame, then they have ordained for the wrong pur-

pose. As their goal is wrong, their path, too, be-comes wrong.

That is why the Buddha said:

Bhikkhus, dreadful are gain, honour, and

fame, bitter, vile, obstructive to achieving the unsurpassed security from bondage.

Suppose there was a beetle, a dung-eater. It


- 38 -

is stuffed with dung, full of dung, and in front of her is yet again a large dunghill.13

What do you think? Is it very likely that she will des-pise the other beetles, thinking, ‘I am a dung-eater,

stuffed with dung, full of dung, and in front of me there is a large dunghill’? Yes, the Buddha said that

she will.

The Buddha then continued:

So, too, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu here whose

mind is overcome and obsessed by gain,

honour, and fame, dresses in the morning, and taking bowl and robe, enters a village or

town for alms. There he eats as much as he wants. He is also invited for the next day’s

meal. His alms-food is plentiful. When he goes back to the monastery, he boasts be-

fore a group of bhikkhus, ‘I have eaten as much as I wanted. I have also been invited

for tomorrow’s meal. My alms-food is plen-tiful. I am one who gains robes, alms-food,

lodgings, and medicinal requisites in abun-dance. Other bhikkhus have little merit and

influence. They do not gain robes, alms-food, lodgings, or medicinal requisites as

much as I do.’ Thus, because his mind is

overcome and obsessed by gain, honour, and fame, he despises the other well-

behaved bhikkhus. That will lead to the harm and suffering of this senseless person

13 SN.II.6.1.5 Mīḷhakasuttaṃ (SN 17.5 The Discourse on the

Dung Beetle).


- 39 -

for a long time. So dreadful are gain, hon-our, and fame….Therefore, bhikkhus, you

should train yourselves thus, ‘We will aban-don the arisen gain, honour, and fame, and

we will not let the arisen gain, honour, and fame persist obsessing our minds.’ Thus

should you train yourselves.

On another occasion, the Buddha also said:14

There was a monk whose mind I knew with my own mind, ‘This venerable one would

not tell a deliberate lie even for the sake of a golden bowl filled with powdered silver.’

Yet, some time later I saw him, his mind overcome and obsessed by gain, honour,

and fame, telling a deliberate lie. Bhikkhus, so dreadful are gain, honour, and fame….

Thus should you train yourselves.

Nowadays, in many Buddhist countries, there are

bhikkhus who set out to reach the goal of gain, hon-our, and fame, which to them means success. So, as

bhikkhus, they have set the wrong goal. Since their goal is wrong, their path, too, becomes wrong. It will

lead these senseless bhikkhus to much harm and suf-fering for a long, long time.

If we choose a wrong path, then in the forthcoming Buddha’s Dispensation, the future Buddha and

Chief Disciple may see us in a destination similar to that of the suffering beings whom the Venerable

14 SN.II.6.2.1 Suvaṇṇapātisuttaṃ (SN 17.11 The Discourse

on the Golden Bowl).


- 40 -

Mahā Moggallāna saw as he came down from Mount Vulture Peak. Do you remember his words?

He saw the ghosts of a bhikkhu, a bhikkhunī, a pro-bationary nun, a novice monk, and a novice nun go-

ing through the air, wearing robes and waistbands in flames, holding bowls in flames, their bodies also

burning with flames. All the while they were uttering cries of excruciating pain.

Do be careful not to choose a wrong goal. It will surely lead to much long-term harm and suffering.

Be heedful not to succumb to the inappropriate de-mands of the five aggregates.

Let me tell you about another person who set out seeking gain, honour, and fame, obeying the de-

mands of the five aggregates. He is a bhikkhu well known to all Buddhists, since the Buddha's time, for

his ill repute. Do you know whom I am referring to? It is the Venerable Devadatta. He was a very egocen-

tric person who thought only about himself and not

about the needs and happiness of others. He was a self-seeking person. He was very selfish. He acted

entirely in his own interests. His sense of his own value and importance was very strong due to his ego.

Winning gain, honour, and fame boosted his ego and led to much harm and suffering for him in the

Great Hell. He is suffering immensely there even now. All egocentric people will have to suffer a tor-

turous destiny. We all truly need to reflect carefully on what it is we seek and which path we follow.

The goal that Devadatta chose was the wrong one. As his goal was wrong, his path, too, became wrong.

That steered him into the Great Hell. Devadatta,


- 41 -

the carrier of the five aggregates, had made his bur-den heavier by choosing the wrong goal and path.

Which path are you going to take? Is it the path that Cunda chose? Or is it that of the four women from

Rājagaha who traded in rice, oil, butter, and honey by unfair means, using false weights and measures?

Or is it the path of the bhikkhu, bhikkhunī, proba-tionary nun, novice monk, and novice nun who had

been evil ones in Buddha Kassapa’s Dispensation? Or is it that of Devadatta’s self-seeking nature?

Please consider very, very carefully!

The Rudder of Life

Having declared what the burden is and who the

carrier of the burden is, the Buddha continued to explain the taking up of the burden:

It is this craving that leads to renewed exist-ence, accompanied by delight and lust,

seeking delight here and there.

In other words, it is this craving that takes up the

burden.

What is this craving the Buddha speaks of?

Before we look into how craving leads to renewed

existence, I shall explain very briefly how it is that, even if we have chosen the right path, we should set

out on that path properly.


- 42 -

In brief, we need to realise the law of kamma. This is based on the principle of cause and effect. It is one

of the primary teachings of the Buddha. How do we realise this law of kamma? In order to realise it fully,

we need to practise dependent origination (paṭicca-

samuppāda) as taught by the Buddha. This means we

need to know and see our past lives. We need to know and see how the ignorance, craving, clinging,

volitional formations, and wholesome and unwhole-some actions of past lives give their results in new

existences. Without such a realisation we will be un-

able to set out properly on our chosen path.

Let me give you a simile. To row and steer a boat in the right direction, we need to use a rudder. In the

same way, to row and steer our ‘boat of life’, we

need our boat to be fixed with a rudder. That rudder is the realisation of the law of kamma. Without such

a realisation, we will be rowing our boat of life with-out an essential navigational aid. But when equipped

with this realisation, we will be able to sail without much trouble. We will be able to steer our boat of

life into a delightful port. And ultimately, we will be able to reach the far shore, that most delightful port,

Nibbāna.

Blind is this world because of ignorance, because of

not knowing the truth. People are wandering around without any clear direction. It is as if they are walk-

ing in a pitch-dark forest at night. So as not to step on thorns, and not to bruise their feet against rocks

and stumps, they need a flaming torch. To navigate through a dark route, a guiding light must be lit. Re-

alising the law of kamma through discerning one’s own past existences is that guiding light. It is the

The Rudder of Life

- 43 -

lighting of a flaming torch in the world of darkness. That realisation will help one navigate one’s boat of

life to a safe abode.

Taking Up of the Burden

By now I believe you understand sufficiently about

both the burden and the carrier of the burden. Let us then continue to learn about how craving, the

taking up of the burden, leads to new existences. To understand it well, I shall tell you about the experi-

ences of a meditator who practised dependent origi-nation (paṭiccasamuppāda) at the Pa-Auk Meditation

Centre in Myanmar.

When this yogi was in the process of discerning his

past existences, he discovered that he had been a very poverty-stricken village girl in one of his past

lives. One day she made an offering of drinking wa-ter and wildflowers at a pagoda. At that time she

made an aspiration, saying, ‘May I be reborn as a rich man due to this offering.’

According to the Buddha, the last object that ap-pears at the near-death moment is responsible for

the next new existence. If the object is a wholesome one, it yields its results in a good realm. If the object

is an unwholesome one, it yields its results in a bad

realm.

Fortunately for the girl, the wholesome object that appeared in her mind at the near-death moment was

the vision of the offering and the wish that she had

made at the pagoda. Consequently, she was reborn


- 44 -

as a man who became very wealthy. Owing to her craving for a rich man’s life, she had taken up a new

burden. She had taken up the burden of a human being, a wealthy man. That is the reason the Bud-

dha said that it is this craving that causes the taking up of a burden, a new set of five aggregates.

He lived a wealthy life, making frequent offerings to the poor. He lived his life in comfort and with much

contentment. However, he certainly could not live forever. One day, as he lay on his death bed, he

heard his sons and daughters quarrelling about their inheritance. He felt very upset and died in anger

(dosa).

I think we can safely say that some of you may suffer

a similar fate. Parents love their sons and daughters very much. They may consider their children to be

treasures. However, uncertain is the mind of people. Children are also people, and people can behave

foolishly due to ignorance and craving. We see this

in the wealthy man’s children.

It was deeply upsetting for him that his sons and daughters were quarrelling about their inheritance at

the very time when he, their father, was about to die. It was very shocking. Their inconsiderate behaviour

was a great shock and disappointment to him. He

died in anger, so afterwards he had to carry the heavier burden of an animal’s five aggregates. He

was reborn as a snake. The nearest cause for having to carry the burden of a snake was his disappoint-

ment with his own sons and daughters. If we die with attachment to our sons and daughters at the


- 45 -

near-death moment, we will also fall into one of the four woeful states. Attachment is a defilement.

People in the world die in various ways. Some die young, some die old, some die of cancer, some die

for their beliefs, some die poor, and some die rich. In whatever way we die, the object at our near-death

moment will be what determines our next new exist-ence.

Between birth and death we live mostly in the ‘homes’ of greed, hatred, delusion, pride, jealousy,

stinginess, and so on. These are ‘homes’ that are truly bad for us. Even though we live in physical

houses that we call home, the real homes which most of us inhabit are these ‘homes’ of greed, ha-

tred, delusion, pride, jealousy, and stinginess. These primal defilements are with us from the moment of

our birth. They trouble us throughout our lives. Most of us, unfortunately, are caught in their grip.

They become our real homes indeed. The

Dhammapada commentary says:

For the heedless, the four woeful states are like their permanent home.15

As we all know, we don’t usually stay long at places where we are only guests. It is natural for us to re-

turn to our homes. In the same way, the human realm and deva realms are places we visit only tem-

porarily. We stay there only when our wholesome kamma is ripe. Sooner or later, because of our de-

15 Commentary to Dhp.I.1 ‘Cakkhupālatthera Vatthu’ (Dhp. 1

‘The Case of Thera Cakkhupāla’).


- 46 -

filements, we have to return to our real homes somewhere in the four woeful planes.

You have just heard about the rich man returning again to his real home, the animal realm. As a snake,

she lived in the forest. The prey she liked to eat best were rabbits. She spent most of her life hunting rab-

bits for her food. The attachment to the flesh of rabbits was so strong that it caused the image of a

rabbit to appear in her mind when she was about to end her life as a snake. Consequently, she was re-

born in the next existence as a rabbit.

Let me ask you a question: Do you like fried chic-

ken? Do you like chicken soup? I believe that most of you do. Is it possible to be reborn as a chicken

simply because of being attached to chicken meat? Yes, it is possible! If you like beef, you may be re-

born as a cow, too. Which is usually stronger, your attachment to vegetables or your attachment to

meat? Attachment to meat is likely stronger, is it

not?

Due to ignorance, we crave existence for its own sake, no matter what that existence may be. It does

not matter to most of us whether it is existence in the brahmā realms, the deva realms, the human

realm, or even the four woeful realms. Our desire for

existence is so strong that even existence in one of the woeful realms is deemed better than not existing

again at all.

Let us return to the meditator’s past lives. Being

now reborn as a rabbit, she also lived in a forest. One day she was caught by a hunter who took her to


- 47 -

his house. He felt pity for the rabbit. He kept her in his house and fed her well. That was most fortunate

for her. She had the opportunity to hear the daily devotional chanting of the hunter’s daughter at

home. The rabbit took delight in listening to the chanting, although on the whole she was unhappy

living in a house. It is natural for forest-dwelling an-imals to hanker after living in the forest. With grow-

ing despondency and depression, the rabbit became sick and grew very thin. Eventually she died.

Just as she was about to pass away, she saw a dark-skinned old man with Indian features walking past

the house. Due to ignorance she instantly became attached to him. Fortunately, the object that ap-

peared at the near-death moment was the delightful

feeling that arose whenever she heard the devotional chants. That wholesome feeling caused her to be re-

born as a human being in the next life. She was re-born as a man with Indian features and complexion.

At the near-death moment, if we remember our children with a sense of grief and worry, we cannot

be reborn as a human being or in any good realm. The object at the near-death moment must be

wholesome for us to be reborn in the deva realms or the human realm. Although she was attached to the

man with Indian features, the rabbit’s near-death object was the delightful feeling that arose whenever

she heard the devotional chants. It was a wholesome object.

According to the commentaries, an ordinary person in the throes of death is very much like a drowning

person. When a person is drowning, he desperately


- 48 -

hopes for someone or something to save him. At that time, he will reach out to grasp anything that

floats by. He will not have the presence of mind or the strength to reject it, even if it is a corpse. Under

the circumstances, he will doggedly cling to any ob-ject for dear life, no matter what it may be. His only

objective is to save his life.

In the same way, whether an ordinary person in the

process of dying sees a wholesome object or an un-wholesome object at the near-death moment, he will

firmly grasp it. He will not have the presence of mind or the strength to reject it, even though it may

be an unwholesome one. At that moment, he will resolutely grasp whatever object arises. Why does he

grasp in this way? Because, due to his craving for

existence, on leaving his old life, he wants to receive a new one. Now you see how this craving fuels re-

newed existence. In this way we are all enslaved by craving.

Seeking Delight Here and There

The Buddha said, ‘This craving seeks delight here and there.’

How does this craving seek delight here and there?

Let me ask you a few more questions. What do you think? Does a dog enjoy its life? Sure, it does. How

about monkeys? Sure, they do, too. There is no one, not any creature, who does not. To make this more

understandable, I shall explain how this craving

takes delight in life here and there.


- 49 -

Long, long ago, King Assaka was ruling in Pāṭali-putta in Kāsi.16 His chief queen, Uparī, was very

dear to him. She was very charming, graceful, and most beautiful. The king loved her immensely. Un-

fortunately, she died while still young. Upon her death the king was overcome with grief and became

depressed. The demise of a king or a queen is tradi-tionally described in our Myanmar language as his

or her ‘going to heaven’. In this instance, though, the deceased queen Uparī had failed to get there.

Being separated from those one loves is suffering. The deeper the love, the greater the suffering will

be. It was therefore a deeply sad event for the king. His feelings were so overpowering that he had her

body embalmed, laid in a glass coffin, and placed

under his bed. He refused to eat. He kept on weep-ing and wailing inconsolably. He even failed to per-

form his royal duties. Even though his parents and ministers consoled him, reminding him of the laws

of mortality and impermanence, he could not be comforted. He went on mourning, continually star-

ing down at the embalmed body of his beloved late queen.

At that time, our bodhisatta was a hermit who pos-sessed supernormal powers. He was dwelling nearby

at the foot of the Himalayas. One day he surveyed the world to see whom he could liberate from hu-

man miseries by enlightening them with the Dhamma. With his divine eye he saw the king sunk

in deep sorrow. Knowing that no one in the world

16 Commentary to Jā.207 ‘Assaka-jātaka’ (‘The Birth Story of

Assaka’).


- 50 -

but he, the hermit, could draw the king out of his melancholy, he visited the king. At the Royal Gar-

den, he met a brahmin attendant. He asked the at-tendant about the king’s condition. When he was

told how inconsolable the king was, he responded that if the king came to him, he would show the king

the whereabouts of the late queen. The brahmin hurried to the palace and told his king, ‘Sire, a pow-

erful hermit who possesses divine power has arrived at the Royal Garden. He can tell you the late

queen’s present existence and show you where she

is. Please pay him a visit.’

The king was overjoyed at the thought of seeing Uparī. He hurried immediately to the Royal Garden

in a chariot. On arring there he paid due respects to

the hermit. Then he asked, ‘Is it true that you can tell me where my late queen is?’

‘Yes,’ said the hermit, our bodhisatta. ‘Your queen

while in this human world was immensely proud of

her beauty, spending her days endlessly preening herself. She neglected doing meritorious deeds of

alms-giving and of observing the precepts. So when she died, she came back reborn as a lowly dung bee-

tle in this garden.’

According to the Buddha, a man or woman who is

conceited and who does not pay obeisance to one to whom obeisance should be paid, who does not stand

up for one for whom one should stand up, who does not offer a seat to one to whom one should offer a

seat, who does not make way for one for whom one should make way, and who does not honour, re-

spect, revere, and venerate one who should be hon-


- 51 -

oured, respected, revered, and venerated, then he or she, at the breakup of the body, after death, will be

reborn in a bad destination, even in hell.17

But if such a one, at the breakup of the body, after

death, is not reborn in a bad destination, or even in hell, one may return as a human being. Wherever

one is reborn, one will be low-born. This is the way that leads to a low birth. When one lives in a stub-

born and proud manner, it will lead to a low birth.

Who are those to be honoured, respected, revered,

and venerated?

They are our elders and seniors. First and foremost

they are Fully Enlightened Buddhas, Pacceka-buddhas, and Noble Disciples. For lay people, they

are one’s own elders and seniors, including one’s mother and father, ascetics and brahmins, and the

heads of the clans.18

When the king heard from the hermit that the late

queen Uparī had been reborn as a dung beetle, he said, ‘I don’t believe it!’ I would say that this is a

normal reaction from anyone. We only want to hear that our loved ones have been reborn in good desti-

nations, not in bad ones. So the bodhisatta said, ‘Then I shall show her to you and make her speak.’

‘Please make her speak,’ requested the king eagerly.

17 MN.III.4.5 Cūḷakammavibhaṅgasuttaṃ (MN 135 The

Short Discourse on the Analysis of Kamma). 18 DN.III.3 Cakkavattisīhanādasuttaṃ (DN 26 The Discourse

on the Lion’s Roar on the Turning of the Wheel).


- 52 -

The bodhisatta commanded, ‘Let the two who are busy rolling a lump of cow-dung come forth before

the king!’ And they came forward. The bodhisatta pointed to one of the beetles and said, ‘This is your

late queen Uparī, O King! She has just come out of this lump of cow dung, following her husband the

dung beetle. Look and see.’

‘What! My queen Uparī a dung beetle? I don’t be-

lieve it!’ cried the king.

The king could not yet be convinced. Those who do

not believe in the law of kamma and its results are unable to accept that a high-born and beautiful hu-

man being can descend so low as to become a dung beetle in the next existence. Even these days, when

the teachings of the Buddha are quite prevalent, there are some people who still hold the belief that

once one is a human being, one cannot be reborn in a plane of existence inferior to that of the human

realm. Outside of the Buddha’s Dispensation, there

are many more who hold similar wrong views.

According to the Buddha, so long as a being has not attained the state of a Stream-Enterer (Sotāpanna),

such a being may descend even from a superior plane of existence to the four woeful states. It does

not matter whether one is the king of devas. One’s

state of rebirth after death depends on how mindful one is, and on which object appears at the near-

death moment. If one’s mind is directed to whole-someness when dying, one may be reborn as a hu-

man being or a deva. If one’s mind is directed to unwholesomeness when dying, or if the object that

appears at the near-death moment is an unwhole-


- 53 -

some object, then one will be reborn in one of the four woeful states.

What do you think? Is it easy to direct one’s mind to wholesomeness when one is dying? Or better to ask:

Is it easy to direct one’s mind to a wholesome object such as the in and out breath in one’s daily practice,

let alone when one is dying? Is it easy?

Even now when we are healthy, strong, and have

mindfulness, many of us cannot direct our mind to our meditation object. When we die, we have no

strength, and we may be seriously ill. We have no mindfulness. How can we then direct our mind to-

wards wholesomeness? Reflect on this carefully!

The Buddha gave the following simile in many dis-

courses:

The Buddha, taking a little bit of soil on his

fingernail, asked a question: ‘Bhikkhus, which is more, the soil that I have taken on

my fingernail or the great earth?’’

The bhikkhus gave an answer:

Venerable Sir, the little bit of soil the

Blessed One has taken on His fingernail is infinitely minute, in comparison to the soil

in the great earth.19

19 SN.V.12.11.1-6 Manussacutinirayasuttaṃ (SN 56.102-107

The Discourse on Passing Away as Humans, and the follow-

ing).


- 54 -

The Buddha goes on to explain that, in the same way, when humans pass away, few are those who

will be reborn as human beings or as devas. Many are those who will fall to the four woeful states at the

break-up of the body after death.

Human beings enjoy sensual pleasures. The Buddha

said:

Bhikkhus, if there were no gratification in

form, beings would not become enamoured with it; but because there is gratification in

form, beings become enamoured with it.

The Buddha then continued to speak thus:

If there were no fault and danger in form,

beings would not experience revulsion to-wards it; but because there is fault and dan-

ger in form, beings experience revulsion to-

wards it.20

No matter how much we may enjoy sensuality, and no matter how long we may enjoy it, it will not be

enough. If we enjoy sensuality, we become heedless.

Moreover, in the pursuit of sense pleasures, we ac-cumulate many unwholesome deeds along the way.

They are the cause of suffering in one of the four woeful realms at the break-up of the body after

death. These are the faults and dangers inherent in sensuality.

20 SN.III.1.3.7 Tatiyāssādasuttaṃ (SN 22.28 The Third Dis-

course on Gratification).


- 55 -

If we know how to enjoy sensuality, we should know how to enjoy our near-death, too. How can we enjoy

our near-death? Without preparation, it is impossi-ble. In our daily life, we need to make and maintain

a schedule to train our mind. We should train our-selves to direct our mind to a wholesome object. As

an analogy, nobody forgets to wash the face and brush the teeth every day. That is our daily routine.

That is a habit. However, almost no one remembers to practise meditation at least once a day. Through

continuous training of the mind and the establishing

of this habit, we can direct our mind to wholesome-ness when dying. We may then be reborn as a hu-

man being or as a deva. If our mind is directed to unwholesomeness when dying, we will be reborn in

one of the four woeful states.

The king, however, had never heard of this

Dhamma and so could not believe what the hermit told him. Therefore, the bodhisatta had to apply his

supernormal powers to make the female dung beetle talk about herself.

‘I will make her speak, O King!’ said the bodhisatta.

‘Please, sir!’ the king responded eagerly.

The bodhisatta gave her the ability to speak. ‘Uparī!’

he called out.

‘What is it, holy Sir?’ she asked in a human voice.

‘What was your name in your former life?’ the bo-dhisatta asked her.


- 56 -

‘My name was Uparī, sir, the chief queen of King Assaka,’ she replied.

‘Whom do you love now, King Assaka or your pre-sent husband, the dung beetle?’

‘Sir, in my former existence as a human being, I

lived with my former husband, the king, enjoying

sensual pleasures in this very garden. Now my memory is impaired and confused by rebirth. I now

lead a new life in this world of dung beetles. King Assaka has nothing to do with me now.’ She went

further: ‘If it were possible, I would even kill King Assaka now and smear the feet of my husband, the

dung beetle, with the blood flowing from King As-saka’s throat!’

This she said in the midst of the king’s retinue. She then uttered this verse in a human voice:

Once with the great King Assaka, who was my husband dear,

Both loving and belov’d, I walked about this garden here.

But now new sorrows and new joys have made the old ones flee;

Now dearer far than Assaka my beetle is to me.

When King Assaka heard this, he immediately felt deep shame, guilt, and remorse. Right away, he or-

dered the queen’s body to be removed from under his bed. The king then paid respects to the bodhi-

satta and returned to the palace. Soon he got himself


- 57 -

another queen and resumed his reign over the coun-try dutifully and happily.

Craving

The king had deceived himself. So too do all of us

deceive ourselves. We have enslaved ourselves to this thirst of craving. To fulfil the demands of craving,

the king had clung to the memory of Queen Uparī. When in death she slipped from his grasp, he felt

shaken and lost. He could not give up his attach-ment to her or his craving for her. When there is the

slightest hope of getting something from someone, people show traces of craving or attachment. When

the hoped-for dream of a long life together is lost

through death or other forms of separation, people adjust themselves sooner or later to living alone or

living with someone else. We now see how the king re-adjusted his life after the bodhisatta’s revelation.

When he found out that his late queen had totally forsaken him, he replaced her with a new queen. We

see, too, that there is really no true love between man and woman, only attachment. That is why I

have just said, ‘The king had deceived himself. So too do all of us deceive ourselves. We have enslaved

ourselves to this thirst of craving.’

When one dies, conception takes place immediately.

There is no interval whatsoever between the death consciousness and the first consciousness moment of

the next life. Conception will take place somewhere in the brahmā realm, deva realm, human realm, or

in one of the four woeful states. Unlike human be-ings, devas do not need to go through a nine or ten


- 58 -

month gestation period in a mother’s womb. At the moment of their appearance in a deva realm, they

are born fully formed with adult bodies.

While rebirth has already taken place immediately

after the death consciousness, those left behind are still lamenting, weeping, and wailing. Be aware of

this! The departed one has forgotten us and is happy somewhere else, enjoying the sensual pleasures

there.

This we have just seen. When Uparī was a queen,

she enjoyed the life of a queen. When she was born as a female dung beetle, she enjoyed that life too. If

one were to be reborn as a pig, a dog, a cow, a dung beetle, a monkey, a fish, or anything whatsoever,

one would also enjoy that particular life. Do you ac-cept this? It is futile, therefore, to keep mourning for

someone who has passed away and taken rebirth immediately somewhere else. It is just tormenting

oneself. It is a waste of time. The deceased is happy

with a new life.

That is why the Buddha said, ‘This craving seeks delight here and there.’ It is this craving that de-

lights here and there. It can immediately adjust itself to its new abode, and perhaps to a new partner.

So, we now know and see how this craving seeks de-light here and there.

The Laying Down of the Burden

- 59 -

The Laying Down of the Burden

Let me come to the last part of this talk. The Bud-dha said:

Bhikkhus, I will teach you about the bur-den, the carrier of the burden, the taking up

of the burden, and the laying down of the burden. Listen to that….

I have explained the burden, the carrier of the bur-den, and the taking up of the burden. Now I am go-

ing to explain ‘the laying down of the burden’. How can we lay down the burden? We need to know how!

The Buddha asked:

What, bhikkhus, is the laying down of the

burden? It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giv-

ing up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it. This is called the lay-

ing down of the burden.

How can we bring about the cessation of craving?

Bringing about the cessation of craving is making an end of suffering. In other words, how can we make

an end of suffering?

The Dhamma penetrated by the Buddha is im-

mensely profound. To penetrate this profound Dhamma requires a systematic, step-by-step prac-

tice. This is the only way to penetrate the Dhamma. This systematic approach is the sure way to Enlight-

enment. Otherwise, it is impossible to gain Enlight-


- 60 -

enment. When the Buddha attained Enlightenment all by Himself, He, too, had to practise systematical-

ly, step by step. After His Enlightenment and over the course of the next forty-five years, He taught ex-

tensively. He gave talks in many different places. I shall quote here from one of His talks entitled ‘The

Peaked House’.21

21 SN.V.12.5.4 Kūṭāgārasuttaṃ (SN 56.44 The Discourse on

the Peaked House).

The Four Noble Truths

On one occasion, the Buddha said:

Bhikkhus, if anyone were to say thus, ‘Without having made the breakthrough to

the Noble Truth of Suffering as it really is, without having made the breakthrough to

the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering as it really is, without having made the

breakthrough to the Noble Truth of the

Cessation of Suffering as it really is, without having made the breakthrough to the Noble

Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering as it really is, I will completely

make an end of suffering’ – it would be im-possible.

If anyone were to say thus, ‘After having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth

of Suffering as it really is, after having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of the

Origin of Suffering as it really is, after hav-


- 61 -

ing made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering as it re-

ally is, after having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of the Way Leading to

the Cessation of Suffering as it really is, I will completely make an end of suffering’ –

it would be possible.

Just as, bhikkhus, if anyone were to say

thus, ‘Having built the lower storey of a peaked house, I will erect the upper storey,’

would it be possible? Yes, it would be possi-ble.

Then the Buddha said:

In the same way, if anyone were to say thus,

‘After having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of Suffering as it really is, after

having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering as it really

is, after having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffer-

ing as it really is, after having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of the

Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering as it really is, I will completely make an end

of suffering’ – it would be possible.

The Buddha then continued:

Bhikkhus, an exertion should be made to understand, “This is suffering.” An exertion

should be made to understand, “This is the origin of suffering.” An exertion should be


- 62 -

made to understand, “This is the cessation of suffering.” An exertion should be made

to understand, “This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.”

We all know that we must penetrate the Four Noble Truths: the Noble Truth of Suffering, the Noble

Truth of the Origin of Suffering, the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, and the Noble Truth of

the Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering. It is impossible to completely make an end of suffering

without having made the breakthrough to the Four Noble Truths. If we want to end suffering, we must

know and see the Four Noble Truths. To know and see the Four Noble Truths, we must systematically

practise meditation under the guidance of a qualified

teacher. Otherwise, it is impossible to penetrate the Four Noble Truths. You might then ask, ‘Who is a

qualified teacher?’ The Buddha is a qualified teach-er. We are merely disciples of the Buddha. We teach

meditation according to His doctrine.

According to the discourse ‘The Peaked House’, on-

ly after having made the breakthrough to the Noble Truth of Suffering and the other three Noble Truths

is it possible for us to make an end of suffering.

What is the Noble Truth of Suffering? According to

another discourse entitled ‘Aggregates’, the Buddha gave an answer:


- 63 -

And what, bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of Suffering? It should be said: The five aggre-

gates subject to clinging.22

In the discourse ‘The Burden’, the Buddha said:

And what, bhikkhus, is the burden? It

should be said: The five aggregates subject

to clinging.

If we relate the above discourses, we can see differ-ences in wording but not in meaning. If we classify

the five aggregates in another way, we can also call

them ultimate materiality and ultimate mentality. The clinging aggregate of materiality is ultimate ma-

teriality. The other four clinging aggregates are ulti-mate mentality.

Thus, to be able to make an end of suffering, we

must first break through to the First Noble Truth,

the Noble Truth of Suffering. In other words, we must know and see the five aggregates subject to

clinging, or the five clinging aggregates. We must know and see the burden. We must know and see

ultimate mentality and materiality.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, there is

no man, no woman, no deva, and no brahmā. There is only ultimate mentality and materiality. Yet we

say, ‘I am a man,’ ‘I am a woman.’ How is it then that there is no man and no woman? In the conven-

tional sense, of course, there is man and woman.

22 SN.V.12.2.3 Khandhasuttaṃ (SN 56.13 The Discourse on

the Aggregates).


- 64 -

But ultimately, this is not true. To comprehend the Buddha’s meaning and fully understand this, we

must break through to the Noble Truth of Suffering. That is to say, we must know and see the five cling-

ing aggregates. This means that we must penetrate ultimate mentality and materiality. But how can we

know and see ultimate mentality and materiality?

The Buddha instructed meditators to develop con-

centration. In the Mahāvagga of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, the Buddha said:

Bhikkhus, develop concentration. A bhik-khu who is concentrated knows and sees

things as they really are.

And what things does he know and see as

they really are? He knows and sees as it real-ly is, ‘This is suffering.’ He knows and sees

as it really is, ‘This is the origin of suffering.’ He knows and sees as it really is, ‘This is the

cessation of suffering.’ He knows and sees as it really is, ‘This is the way leading to the

cessation of suffering.’23

23 SN.V.12.1.1 Samādhisuttaṃ (SN 56.1 The Discourse on

Concentration, also known as the Samādhi Sutta).

The Three Trainings

- 65 -

The Three Trainings

To know and see the First, Second, and Third No-ble Truths, we must cultivate and practise the

Fourth Noble Truth, that is, the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is comprised of the

Three Trainings: The training of morality (sīla), the

training of concentration (samādhi), and the training of insight (paññā).

Sīla Samādhi Paññā

Right Speech Right Effort Right View

Right Action Right Mindfulness Right Thought

Right Livelihood Right Concentration

We take up the training of morality (sīla) to cultivate purity of bodily and verbal actions. With the training

of concentration (samādhi) we acquire purity of mind temporarily. And we undertake the training of in-

sight (paññā) to free ourselves from suffering.

In order to develop concentration, we must practise

samatha meditation. Do you know how many differ-ent samatha meditation objects the Buddha taught?

Forty. Of these forty, thirty lead to absorption con-centration while the remaining ten lead only to ac-

cess concentration.24 So, we can say that the Bud-dha taught forty different samatha meditation

objects for the cultivation of two different but relat-

24 Vsm.I.3.47 ‘Cattālisa Kamma-ṭhāna Vaṇṇanā’ (Path of Pu-

rification p.108 ‘Description of Forty Types of Meditation

Subjects’).


- 66 -

ed types of concentration: Access concentration and absorption concentration.

Right Concentration is one of the factors appearing in the Buddha’s comprehensive Noble Eightfold

Path. What is Right Concentration? The Visud-dhimagga (The Path of Purification) explains that

Right Concentration is access concentration and the eight attainments or jhānas.25 These correspond to

Right Concentration. Right Concentration is very important. Without Right Concentration, it is im-

possible to penetrate things as they really are.

When we undertake the training of concentration,

we must practise with any one of the forty medita-tion objects with which we can attain access concen-

tration or absorption concentration. At Pa-Auk Tawya Meditation Centre, we usually teach begin-

ners mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati). When their concentration develops, they attain full absorp-

tion concentration, which is very profound and

powerful. However, some new meditators are unable to develop concentration through mindfulness of

breathing. As an alternative, we teach them four el-ements meditation. With four elements meditation,

meditators can attain access concentration.

We must all try our very best to develop either ac-

cess or absorption concentration, so that we can

25 Vsm.II.18 ‘Nāma Rūpa Pariggaha Kathā’ (Path of Purifica-

tion p. 609 ‘Discussion of the Apprehension of Mentality-

Materiality’): ‘Cittavisuddhi nāma saupacārā aṭṭha samāpattiyo’ –

‘Purification of Consciousness (Right Concentration) is name-

ly, the eight attainments together with access concentration’.

The Three Trainings

- 67 -

penetrate ultimate reality. Without access or absorp-tion concentration, we will not be able to see ulti-

mate mentality and materiality. Simply put, this means that we will not be able to break through to

the First Noble Truth, the Noble Truth of Suffer-ing. We will not be capable of knowing and seeing

things as they really are.

There are many at Pa-Auk who have already pene-

trated ultimate mentality and materiality. They un-derstand the importance of developing concentra-

tion in order to know and see ultimate reality as it really is. These meditators have seen things as they

really are. There are also many meditators at Pa-Auk who have yet to penetrate ultimate mentality and

materiality. Nevertheless, they continue to practise

conscientiously towards that goal.

According to the Buddha, this whole world is com-posed of very tiny particles. In order for meditators

to know and see these particles directly, the Buddha

taught four elements meditation. What are the four elements? They are earth, water, fire, and wind. All

living and non-living phenomena are made up of these four elements. When meditators can discern

these four elements clearly in their whole body from head to toe and toes to head, again and again, they

will experience their body as a block of four ele-ments. When this happens, the perception of ‘being’

(sattasaññā) temporarily disappears. Meditators then no longer see the body as a ‘being’ but are now able

to correctly perceive the body as a group of four el-ements. As their concentration improves, the body

gradually begins to emit a grey light which becomes brighter and brighter. Next, the body turns into a


- 68 -

block of light. If meditators continue to discern the four elements in that block of light, it finally breaks

down into very small particles that are rapidly arising and passing away.

It is a profound experience to see these small parti-cles, yet the meditator is still seeing only the most

subtle concept of conventional materiality. He or she is still not seeing ultimate materiality. In each parti-

cle there are at least eight aspects of materiality. These eight aspects are the derivative elements of

colour, odour, flavour, and nutritive essence as well as the primary elements of earth, water, fire, and

wind. It is only when meditators can analyse these eight different aspects of materiality, one by one, in

each particle, that they can truly start to know and

see ultimate materiality. According to the Abhi-dhamma, there are in total twenty-eight types of ul-

timate materiality. At Pa-Auk we usually teach med-itators to analyse materiality according to the six

sense doors and forty-two parts of the body.

Once meditators can discern the four elements in-

ternally, in their own bodies, and directly know and see ultimate reality, they then move on to discern

the ultimate materiality externally. When they are able to discern the four elements in inanimate things

like buildings, they will see only small particles. When they discern four elements in trees, or even in

space, they will likewise see only small particles. Everything becomes the same. At this point men,

women, trees, and all other conventional forms cease to exist. Everything and everyone is seen as

groups of small particles. When they are able to dis-cern the ultimate materiality in these small particles,

The Three Trainings

- 69 -

it will lead to the attainment of true knowledge. It is the knowledge of knowing that there are really no

men or women. There is just ultimate materiality.

However, when meditators open their eyes again,

what do they see? Once again they see men and women, and they suffer for seeing them. Why do

they suffer so? It is because of their defilements. So if you don’t want to see men and women, don’t

open your eyes again. You must keep your eyes closed all the time. Otherwise, attachment, craving,

and clinging will arise, and you will take on new kamma. So are you going to keep your eyes closed

all the time from now on?

The meditator’s next step is to know and see the ul-

timate mentality which arises based on the heart-base materiality. When they are successful in this

practice, they directly know and see the mental pro-cess arising in a series of mind moments with con-

sciousness and all the associated mental factors pre-

sent in each mind moment. There are six types of mental processes, namely, eye-door, ear-door, nose-

door, tongue-door, body-door, and mind-door pro-cess. We teach meditators to discern the mental

formations of these mental processes, both internally and externally. Meditators then see things just as the

Buddha described them. They see that men and women truly do not exist. Only ultimate mentality

and materiality exist. When meditators are able to analyse the ultimate mentality and materiality from

different aspects as instructed by the Buddha, they


- 70 -

know and see the First Noble Truth, the Noble Truth of Suffering, or ‘the burden’.26

Once meditators know and see ultimate mentality and materiality, they go on to work with dependent

origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) as the object of their practice in order to directly know and see the origins

of materiality and mentality, which is suffering. In other words, they practise to know and see cause

and effect. Are you not curious to know what you were in your past lives? Where did you come from?

And where are you going? Don’t you wish to know where you came from? And don’t you also wish to

know where you are going? We have now been born as human beings due to good kamma. This is the

least you should know.

The Buddha said, ‘Nothing happens without caus-

es.’27 In this present life, all of us go on accumulat-ing many deeds, both good and bad. These deeds

may give their results in a future life. In this way, we

continue our journey according to our kamma. The central teaching of the Buddha is the law of kamma.

It is fundamental that we understand this law.

We call ourselves Buddhists. What makes someone a Buddhist? Buddhists are those who have faith in the

26 For details regarding the ways to know and see the Four

Noble Truths, read the books authored by the Pa-Auk Tawya

Sayadaw, such as The Workings of Kamma and Knowing and

Seeing. 27 MN.I.4.8. Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhayasuttaṃ (MN 38.1 The Great

Discourse on the Destruction of Craving): ‘Imasmiṃ sati idaṃ

hoti, imassuppādā idaṃ uppajjati’ – ‘When this is, that is; when this

arises, that arises’.

The Three Trainings

- 71 -

Triple Gem and kamma and its results. But almost all other ordinary people have some doubts about

kamma and its results. Is it true that there is past, present, and future? Is it really true that good ac-

tions bring good results, and bad actions bring bad results? To remove these doubts, all meditators need

to know kamma and its results by discerning their past and future existences in the ultimate sense.

That is, they need to discern cause and effect in the five clinging aggregates of past and future. This

means that they need to discern cause and effect in

the past, present and future five clinging-aggregates. When they have discerned cause and effect, they

know and see the Second Noble Truth, the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering.

According to the discourse ‘The Burden’, knowing and seeing the Second Noble Truth is knowing and

seeing craving. This is to know and see cause and effect, to know and see that it is this craving which

takes up the burden.

Liberation

Meditators who have practised dependent origina-

tion and have directly discerned cause and effect then progress to insight meditation (vipassanā). Now

they are able to discern the three characteristics of impermanence, suffering and non-self. That is,

1. Mentality-materiality along with their causes and effects perish as soon as they arise. That is

the impermanence characteristic (anicca

lakkhaṇa).


- 72 -

2. Mentality-materiality along with their causes and effects are subject to constant arising and

perishing. That is the suffering characteristic (dukkha lakkhaṇa).

3. Mentality-materiality, being characterised by

impermanence and suffering, can have no sta-ble or indestructible essence. That is the non-

self characteristic (anatta lakkhaṇa).

In this way, meditators examine the nature of ulti-mate mentality and materiality, along with their

causes and effects, in past, present, and future, in-ternally and externally, again and again. When their

insight matures, Path Knowledge arises. They see Nibbāna! At that point, mentality and materiality

cease, and they know and see the Third Noble

Truth, the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffer-ing.

With the arising of Path Knowledge, their defile-

ments are eradicated step by step. With the achievement of the first Path, they attain the first

fruit of Enlightenment and become Stream Enterers (Sotāpanna) . As soon as that happens, the three de-

filements of identity view, doubt, and attachment to wrong practices28 are forever eradicated.29

28 Sīlabbata-parāmāsa in Pāḷi. It is the attachment driven by the

wrong view that certain practices are necessary and sufficient

for the attainment of purification. In ancient times, there were

many ascetics and heretics who adopted the mode of practice

of mimicking the habitual behaviour of dogs and cows, mis-

guided by the wrong view that these practices would lead to

purification. Nowadays, there are many seemingly Buddhist

practices that are not true to the original teaching of the Bud-

Liberation

- 73 -

However, the set of five aggregates remain a burden. Stream Enterers will still have five aggregates.

Therefore they are still carrying the burden. Never-theless, they have already eradicated the three de-

filements of identity view, doubt, and attachment to wrong practices. Consequently, they will not be re-

born in any of the four woeful states ever again. They have gained complete freedom from having to

carry the burdens of new existences as animals, hun-gry ghosts, or hell beings.

When we compare the burdens of human beings and animals, we see that they are very different. Usually,

human beings have higher intelligence than animals. Human beings know how to do wholesome deeds,

how to avoid doing unwholesome deeds, and how to

take righteous actions. Animals do not know how to do wholesome actions. Human beings’ hopes for

improvement can be realised, whereas animals’ hopes for improvement are rarely realised. Human

beings can manage their way of life to create a brighter future for themselves by doing good. They

can practise the training of morality, the training of concentration, and the training of insight. Animals

dha, which specifies that the Noble Eightfold Path in its entire-

ty is the only practice that leads to purification. These pseudo-

Buddhist practices can be considered as wrong practices (sīlab-

bata). With the realisation of the first Path Knowledge, the

Stream-Enterer knows with absolute certainty that no other

practices outside of the Noble Eightfold Path lead to purifica-

tion. Hence he has removed permanently and without remain-

der any attachment to wrong practices. 29 Vsm.II.22.830 ‘Pāhatabba Dhamma Pahāna Kathā’ (Path of

Purification p. 714 ‘Discussion on the Abandoning of the

Things to Be Abandoned’).


- 74 -

do not know how to do so. Animals know only three things – eating, sleeping, and mating. There are also

many people in the world who know only these three things. If they know only these three things, are they

much different from animals? They can, in fact, be called animal-like human beings. Such people will

have to carry new, heavier burdens.

Now we shall continue talking about how to lay

down the burden.

Having attained Stream-Entry , meditators may con-

tinue to practise insight meditation by contemplat-ing the three characteristics of impermanence, suf-

fering, and non-self. In this way, they contemplate the nature of ultimate mentality and materiality,

along with their causes and effects. When their in-sight matures, they realise Nibbāna by Once-

Returner Path Knowledge (Sakadāgāmi Maggañāṇa), which lessens the strength of lust, hatred, and igno-

rance.

With continued deep contemplation and the matur-

ing of insight again, they realise Nibbāna by Non-Returner Path Knowledge (Anāgāmi Maggañāṇa).

This completely destroys hatred and sensual lust.

Next, they realise Nibbāna by Arahant Path

Knowledge, which completely destroys the remain-ing defilements, such as pride, ignorance, restless-

ness, craving for form realms, and craving for form-less realms. Arahants thus eradicate all defilements

without remainder. They are completely liberated

from craving.

Liberation

- 75 -

With liberation comes profound contentment. Lib-eration is void of craving. The person who ‘wants

this’ and ‘wants that’ is no more. A new person comes into being. For such a person, ‘what had to

be done has been done’. For such a person, ‘what had to be laid down has been laid down’. He will

not be taking up any new burden. He has successful-ly accomplished the laying down of his burden.

May you be such a person.

May all beings practise sīla, samādhi, and paññā, which are the prerequisites for liberation.

May all beings be able to successfully accomplish the laying down of their burden.

May all beings be able to reach the yonder shore of

Nibbāna.

May all beings be blessed with the attainment of the

perfections and be able to proclaim, ‘What had to be laid down has been laid down.’

Let’s stop here by reciting the stanza recited by the Buddha at the end of His discourse, ‘The Burden’.

Bhārā have pañcakkhandhā,

Bhārahāro ca puggalo; Bhārādānaṃ dukkhaṃ loke,

Bhāranikkhepanaṃ sukhaṃ.

A burden indeed is the five aggregates,

And the carrier of the burden is the person.

Taking up the burden in the world is suffering.

Laying down of the burden is blissful.

Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu!

- 77 -

Abbreviations

About the Footnote Citations

Footnotes cite the Pāḷi sources first, from the

Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka, followed by the most common citation format for the English translations.

Abbreviations for Sources Cited

Dhp Dhammapada (The Verses of Dhamma)

DN Dīgha Nikāya (Collection of Long Discourses)

Jā Jātaka

(Birth Stories)

MN Majjhima Nikāya

(Collection of Middle Length Discourses)

PvA Peta Vatthu Aṭṭhakathā

(Commentary to the Accounts of the Hungry Ghosts)

SN Saṃyutta Nikāya (Collection of Connected Discourses)

Vsm Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification)30

30 Page numbers refer to the Path of Purification, translated by

Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (Buddhist Publication Society, fourth edi-

tion, 2010).

- 79 -

Index

Abhaya, Prince, 36

Abhayarājakumāra-

suttaṃ, 36

Abhidhamma, 7, 68

absorption concentration, 65

access concentration, 65

Accounts of the

Hungry Ghosts, 32 akusala kamma, 14

alcohol, 11, 14 alms, 37

altruism, 14, 24, 26, 40

Anāgāmi, 74 ānāpānasati, 53, 66

anatta, 14, 15–17, 18, 71, 74

anger, 16, 22, 44 anicca, 7, 13, 71, 74

animal realm, 5, 33,

44, 73 Arahant, 23, 74

ariyā, 34, 52, 72, 73, 74

Assaka, King, 49 Assaka-jātaka, 49

attachment, 23, 44, 46, 47, 48, 57, 69

to wrong practices, 72

beef, 46

beetle, 37, 50, 58 being, perception of,

67 Bhaddā Kāpilānī, 27

Bhārasuttaṃ, 3

bhikkhu and bhikkhunī, evil, 35,

40 Bhogasaṃharaṇa Peta

Vatthu Vaṇṇanā, 32 Birth Story of Assaka,

49 blindness of the world,

42 block of light, body as,

68 boat, si, 42

boat, simile, 43 boat, simile of, 34

bodhisatta, 49

body, 68 as block of light, 67

needs of, 6 slaves of, 6

body-door process, 69 bracelet, simile of, 13

brahmā realm, 5, 29, 46, 57, 63

breath meditation, 53, 66

Index

- 80 -

Buddha Kassapa, 37, 41

butcher, 24 Cakkavattisīhanāda-

suttaṃ, 51 Cakkhupālatthera

Vatthu, 45 cancer, 45

Case of Cunda the Pork Butcher, 24

Case of the Bhoga-

saṃharaṇa Ghost, 32

Case of the Weaver Girl, 7

Case of Thera Cakkhupāla, 45

cause and effect, 42, 70, 71, 74

cessation of craving, 59

of suffering, 59, 60 cetanā, 13

chanting, 47

Chapter on Evil, 10 Chapter on

Happiness, 17 chickens, 46

Chief Disciple, 39 Cīvarasuttaṃ, 27

clinging, 23, 44, 46, 47, 48, 69

clothes, 4, 5 colour, 68

commentaries, 7, 24, 27, 32, 45, 47, 49

complaining, 17 complicated life, 12

conceit, 24, 38 concentration, 7, 65–

66, 73 conception, 57

confidence, 22, 37, 70 consciousness, 4, 5,

13–19, 18, 22

contentment, 17, 75 conventional truths, 7,

63, 68, 69 corpse, 48

cows, 46, 58 craving, 17, 23, 41,

44, 57, 69, 71 cessation of, 59

for existence, 46, 48, 58

for form and formless realms,

74

remainderless fading away of, 59

cruelty, 29, 31 Cūḷakammavibhaṅga-

suttaṃ, 51 Cunda, 24

Cundasūkarika Vatthu, 24

dāna, 22, 24, 32, 37, 43

Index

- 81 -

danger (of sensuality), 26, 54

death, 45, 49, 51, 53, 54

death consciousness, 57

defilement, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 45, 69, 72,

74 remainderless

eradication of, 74

delusion, 16, 17, 22, 45

dependent origination, 42, 43, 70, 71

Description of Forty Types of Meditation

Subjects, 65 Description of the

Case of the Bhogasaṃharaṇa

Ghost, 32 desire, 17, 23, 41, 44,

57, 69, 71

for existence, 46, 48, 58

for form and formless realms,

74 deva realm, 52, 54,

57, 63 deva realms, 45, 46,

47 Devadatta, 40

developed society, complications of, 12

Dhammapada, 7, 10, 17, 24, 45

Discourse Concerning Prince Abhaya, 36

Discourse Concerning Yamaka, 16

Discourse on Concentration, 8,

64

Discourse on Passing Away as Humans,

53 Discourse on

Suffering, 11 Discourse on the

Aggregates, 63 Discourse on the

Analysis of Kamma, Short, 51

Discourse on the Burden, 3

Discourse on the

Dung Beetle, 38 Discourse on the

Golden Bowl, 39 Discourse on the

Lion’s Roar on the Turning of the

Wheel, 51 Discourse on the

Peaked House, 60 Discourse on the

Robe, 27

Index

- 82 -

Discourses on the Evil Bhikkhunī, the Evil

Probationary Nun, the Evil Novice

Monk, and the Evil Novice Nun, 35

Discussion of the Apprehension of

Mentality-Materiality, 66

Discussion on the

Abandoning of the Things to Be

Abandoned, 73 dogs, 48, 58

doubt, 22, 71, 73 drowning person,

simile of, 47 drugs, 14

dukkha, 71, 74 Dukkhasuttaṃ, 11

dung beetle, 38, 50, 58

ear-door process, 69

earth element, 67 earth, simile of, 53

egocentrism, 14, 24, 26, 40

eight aspects of materiality, 68

eight attainments, 66 eight worldly

dhamma, 24, 33, 37, 38, 40

end of suffering, 59, 60

Enlightenment, 59, 72 escape (from

sensuality), 26 external and internal,

68, 69 eye-door process, 69

faith, 22, 37, 70 fame, 24

family, 44, 47, 51, 57,

58 fault and danger (of

sensuality), 26, 54 feeling, 4, 5, 8–9, 9,

16, 18, 22 fire element, 67

First Noble Truth, 70 fish, 58

five aggregates, 4, 5, 15, 19–20, 20, 21–

22, 30, 33, 37, 40, 44, 73, 75

subject to clinging,

23, 63, 71 five precepts, 11, 14,

27, 32, 33, 34, 37, 39, 42, 54

flavour, 68 food, 4, 5

forest dwelling, 12 forest, simile of, 42

forty objects of meditation, 65

four elements, 67

Index

- 83 -

four elements meditation, 66

Four Noble Truths, 8, 60–64, 65

four requisites, 4, 5, 21, 37, 38

four woeful states, 45, 46, 52, 54, 55, 57,

73 freedom from craving,

59

Fully Enlightened Buddhas, 51

generosity, 22, 24, 32, 37, 43

ghost realm, 5, 32, 35, 37, 40, 73

Gijjhakūṭa Hill, 35, 40 goal and path, 21–41

right and wrong path, 24

gratification (of sensuality), 25, 54

Great Discourse on

the Destruction of Craving, 70

great earth, simile of, 53

greed, 16, 17, 22, 45 guidance of a teacher,

62 guilt, 24, 56

harbour, simile, 42 harbour, simile of, 34

hatred, 17, 45, 74

heedlessness, 54 hell realm, 5, 33, 37,

40, 51, 52, 73 Himalayas, 49

homes, simile of, 45

honour, 50 human realm, 45, 46,

47, 51, 52, 57 humility, 22

hungry ghosts, 5, 32,

35, 37, 40, 73 ignorance, 7, 42, 44,

47, 74 Ignorance, 8

impermanence, 7, 13, 49, 71, 74

inheritance, 44 insight, 65–66, 71, 73

intention, 13 internal and external,

68, 69 Jātaka, 49

jealousy, 16, 22, 45

jhāna, 65 kamma, 14, 27, 33,

37, 39, 40, 42, 52, 69

Kāsi, 49 Kassapa Buddha, 37,

41 khandhā, 4, 5, 15, 19–

20, 20, 21–22, 30, 33, 37, 40, 44, 75

Index

- 84 -

subject to clinging, 23, 63, 71

Khandhasuttaṃ, 63 kilesa, 16, 17, 22, 23,

24, 45, 69, 72, 74 remainderless

eradication of, 74 King Assaka, 49

Knowing and Seeing, 70

knowledge, right, 34

kusala kamma, 14 Kūṭāgārasuttaṃ, 60

Lakkhaṇa, 35 lamentation, 58

law of kamma, 14, 27, 33, 37, 39, 40, 42,

52, 70 lay people, 37, 51

liberation, 37, 75 lifestyle, simple, 12

livelihood, wrong, 27 living and non-living

things, 67, 68

loving-kindness, 24, 32

lust, 74 lying, 39

magnanimity, 22 Mahā Moggallāna, 35,

40 Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhaya-

suttaṃ, 70 Manussacutiniraya-

suttaṃ, 53

marriage, 57, 58 materialism, 24

materiality, 4–8, 15, 21

eight aspects of, 68 meat-eating, 46

medicine, 4, 5 meditation, 11, 53,

55, 62, 71 memory, 9, 10, 11,

18, 22, 47

mental processes, 69 mentality and

materiality, ultimate, 7, 63, 64,

67, 69 mettā, 24, 32

Mīḷhakasuttaṃ, 38 mind moment, 13

mind, training of, 55 mind-door process, 69

mindfulness of breathing, 53, 66

Moggallāna, 35, 40

monastic life, 12, 27, 37, 38

monkeys, 48, 58 morality, 11, 14, 27,

32, 33, 34, 37, 39, 42, 54, 65–66, 73

mortality, 49 Mount Vulture Peak,

35, 40 mourning, 58

Myanmar, 1, 43, 49

Index

- 85 -

near-death moment, 43, 45, 47, 48, 52

preparing for, 55 needs of the body, 6

Nibbāna, 34, 42, 72, 74

Noble Disciples, 51 Noble Eightfold Path,

65–66, 73 non-reliance on

craving, 59

Non-Returner, 74 non-self, 14, 15–17,

18, 71, 74 nose-door process, 69

novice monk and novice nun, evil, 35,

40 nutritive essence, 68

obstinacy, 51 odour, 68

Once-Returner, 74 Pa-Auk Forest

Meditation Centre,

10, 43, 66, 67, 68 Pa-Auk Tawya

Sayadaw, 70 Paccekabuddhas, 51

Pāhatabba Dhamma Pahāna Kathā, 73

paññā, 24, 65–66, 73 Pāpabhikkhunīsuttaṃ,

35 Pāpavagga, 10

past lives, 42, 43, 70

past, present, and future, 71

Pāṭaliputta, 49 Path and Fruition, 34,

52, 72, 73, 74 path and goal, 21–41

right and wrong path, 24

Path of Purification, 66, 73

paṭiccasamuppāda, 42,

43, 70, 71 peace of mind, 17

peaked house, simile of, 60

perception, 4, 5, 9–13, 18, 22, 67

of being, 67 Peta Vatthu Vaṇṇanā,

32 pigs, 24, 58

Pippali Kassapa, 27 pork butcher, 24

port, sim, 42

port, simile of, 34 practice, systematic,

59, 62 praise, 24

precepts, 11, 14, 27, 32, 33, 34, 37, 39,

42, 54 pride, 16, 22, 38, 45,

51 Prince Abhaya, 36

Index

- 86 -

probationary nun, evil, 35, 40

Purification of Consciousness, 66

qualified teacher, 62 Queen Uparī, 49

rabbits, 46 Rājagaha, 24, 32, 35

rebirth, 20, 21, 28, 40, 41, 43, 48, 51, 52,

54, 70, 71, 73

immediacy of, 57 relinquishing of

craving, 59 remembering, 9, 10,

11, 18, 22, 47 remorse, 24, 56

renunciation, 27 resentment, 10, 22

respect, 50 restlessness, 74

retaliation, 10, 11, 22 revenge, 10, 11, 22

reverence, 50

revulsion, 54 Right Concentration,

66 right knowledge, 34

Right Livelihood, 27 right thinking, 34

round of rebirths, 20, 21, 28, 40, 41, 43,

48, 52, 70, 71, 73 rudder, simile, 42

rūpakkhandhā, 4–8, 6, 15

saddhā, 22, 37, 70 Sakadāgāmi, 74

sakkāya-diṭṭhi, 15–17, 18, 34, 72

samādhi, 65–66, 73 Samādhisuttaṃ, 8, 64

samatha, 65 saṃsāra, 20, 21, 28,

40, 41, 43, 48, 52,

70, 71, 73 saṅkhārakkhandhā,

13–19 saññā, 67

saññakkhandhā, 9–13, 18

sattasaññā, 67 Second Noble Truth,

71 self-identity view, 15–

17, 18, 34, 72 selfishness, 14, 24, 26,

40

sense-doors, 22, 69 sensuality, 12, 17, 22,

26, 54, 56 sesame seeds, 28

shame, 56 shelter, 4, 5

Short Discourse on the Analysis of

Kamma, 51 sikkhamānā, 35

Index

- 87 -

sīla, 11, 14, 27, 32, 33, 34, 37, 39, 42,

54, 65–66 sīlabbata-parāmāsa, 72

similes

boat, 34, 42, 43 bracelet, 13

drowning person, 47 earth, 53

forest, 42 great earth, 53

harbour, 34, 42 homes, 45

peaked house, 60 port, 34, 42

rudder, 42 soil, 53

torch, 43

simple lifestyle, 12 six sense-doors, 22, 69

six types of mental processes, 69

slaves of the body, 6 snakes, 44, 46

soil, simile of, 53 solitude, 12

Sotāpanna, 52, 72, 74 step-by-step practice,

59, 62 stinginess, 16, 22, 45

Stream-Enterer, 52, 72, 74

stubbornness, 51

sub-atomic particles, 7, 67, 68

success, 37 suffering, 71, 74

end of, 59, 60 supernormal powers,

49, 55 Suvaṇṇapātisuttaṃ,

39 systematic practice,

59, 62 taṇhā, 17, 23, 41, 44,

46, 48, 57, 58, 69,

71 for form and

formless realms, 74

teacher, 62 Thera Cakkhupāla, 45

thinking, 14, 34 Third Noble Truth,

72 three characteristics,

71, 74 three periods of time,

71

three trainings, 65–66, 73

tilakkhaṇa, 71, 74 tongue-door process,

69 torch, simile of, 43

training of the mind, 55

Triple Gem, 71

Index

- 88 -

ultimate mentality and materiality, 7, 63,

64, 67, 69, 72, 74 ultimate truths, 7, 64,

68, 69 unselfishness, 14, 24,

26, 40 unwholesome kamma,

14 Uparī, Queen, 49

vedanakkhandhā, 8–9,

9, 16, 18 vegetarianism, 46

Veḷuvana, 24 veneration, 50

viññāṇakkhandhā, 13–19, 18

vipassanā, 71

Visuddhimagga, 66, 73

volition, 13 volitional formations,

4, 5, 13, 22, 42 Vulture Peak, 35, 40

water element, 67 wealth, 24

wholesome kamma, 14

wind element, 67

wisdom, 24, 65–66 Workings of Kamma,

70 world, blindness of, 42

worldly dhamma, 24, 33, 37, 38, 40

Yamakasuttaṃ, 16

- 89 -

Buddhavandanā

Paying Respect to The Buddha

Buddho Bodhāya deseti, danto yo damathāya ca; Samathāya santo dhammaṃ, tiṇṇo’va taraṇaya ca;

Nibbuto nibbānatthāya, taṃ lokasaraṇaṃ name

The Buddha, the Enlightened One, the refuge of the three worlds, the arahant (Nāga), having known the Four Noble Truths by Himself and wishing to enlighten others that deserve to be enlightened like Himself; having tamed Himself with respect to the six faculties, and wishing to tame others that are fit to be tamed like Himself; having attained peace Himself, and wishing others that are worthy might attain peace like Himself; having crossed over to the other side of the ocean of samsāra, and wish-ing others that are worthy might cross over to the other shore like Himself; having extinguished the fire of defilement at the four stages, and wishing others that are worthy might extinguish the fire of defilement like Himself; out of compassion, he expounded the glorious Dhamma to devas and humans for forty-five years. To Him, The Buddha, the Nāga, the refuge of the three worlds, I pay homage physically, verbally and mentally in all humility with joined palms raised.

May the Noble Wishes of all beings be fulfilled. May all be well and happy.

- 90 -

Hitvā kāme pabbajjiṃsu Santo gambhiracintakā

Te tumepya anusikkhāvo Pabbajitā supesalā

Good people in the ancient days in both the present and past world cycles, destined to be omniscient Buddhas, private Bud-dhas, and Noble Ones, had reflected deeply on the true nature of life and unhesitatingly gave up all their living and non-living possessions, which are objects of sensual craving for the vast ma-jority of people and are prone to various harms and dangers. See-ing the inherent faults in those possessions, they chose to re-nounce the world and to live ordained lives in seclusion in order to undertake the training and practice of morality, concentra-tion, and insight meditation, diligently and ardently.

May good people of the present days who have come into ex-istence and are imbued with the perfection of renunciation, emu-late the great people of those ancient days and unhesitatingly renounce the world with hearts founded upon moral purity. May these good people live ordained lives in seclusion and be able to undertake the training and practice of morality, concentration, and insight meditation, diligently and ardently.

May all know and see the Dhamma in this very life.

May all be free from suffering.

- 91 -

About Bhikkhu Revata

Bhikkhu Revata was born in 1971 in Mawlamyine, My-

anmar. He received his bachelor’s degree from Yangon University in 1994 and independently taught computer

technology for five years. He was ordained as a Thera-vāda bhikkhu at Pa-Auk Tawya in 1999, with the Most

Venerable U Āciṇṇa, the Pa-Auk Sayadaw, as his precep-tor. He has studied the Pāḷi scriptures and commentaries

and speaks Burmese, English, and Thai.

After practising meditation under the guidance of the Most Venerable Pa-Auk Sayadaw, Sayadaw U Cittara,

and Sayadaw U Sīla, in 2002 he began teaching medita-tion to local and foreign yogis, both ordained and lay,

and is currently an assistant teacher of the Pa-Auk Sa-yadaw. He is responsible for teaching local and foreign

yogis and for training successful practitioners to teach meditation themselves.

A distinguished meditator and teacher, he has taught ex-tensively both in Myanmar and abroad. He has conduct-

ed meditation retreats in China, Indonesia, South Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vi-

etnam.

He has written four books in his native language, three of them in collaboration with the Most Venerable Pa-Auk

Sayadaw. Like the present work, other collections of Bhante’s teachings and Dhamma talks have been printed

in English under the titles of Awaken, O World! (2006), The Disciple Within (2008), and Bearers of the Burden

(2011). His talks have been translated into Korean, In-donesian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Other teachings from Bhikkhu Revata in e-book, audio, and video formats can be found on the Internet at

www.revata-bhikkhu.org.

BEARERS OF THE BURDEN - 5000year.space5000year.space/0datacenter/book/b15112019/enbooks/beng-011.pdfBearers of the Burden - 2 - over, they obtain relief from their burden. They can

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